It Finally Happened
by Commander Argus
Summary: The shining first days of Kim and Ron together as a couple.  The Trinity Sitch  Beginnings.  [complete]
1. Part I

_**It Finally Happened**_

* * *

It was almost one thirty in the morning. Curfew was supposed to be at ten, though her father had first intended it to be extended to midnight. 

Kim Possible had actually been home by then, though her date and probable boyfriend had not brought her. It was her nearly lifelong best friend who brought her home for a hasty conference with her father about the nature of those Lil Diablo toys Bueno Nacho was so keen to hand out.

Almost an hour later, she was rocketing, literally, one hundred miles west, the front half of her home lying in ruins, racing, so she thought at the time, to rescue that boyfriend. By midnight she was on top of the Bueno Nacho corporate headquarters building, fighting to stop close to a million killer robots from devastating the entire world, fighting back disgust that her enemies had played her, fighting with a revelation that had ripped her whole world, her whole being, tearing down Kim Possible, destroying what she had become over the last few years.

She had been living a lie.

Oh, it had been so easy to lie to herself, to lie to everyone else around her. They all knew better, but she believed the lie, so much so that it became her truth. Her truth had become so strong that, in hindsight, she had been all too willing to throw the best, most wonderful thing in her life away, all because she wanted…no, she needed to have a man on her arm that met the approval of others. She needed a man who made a statement to others, who would ensure her place on the high school food chain.

Her heart be damned.

It took finding that just such a man was hollow, filled with nothing that was real (literally) to hammer home just how much the lie had become her truth. It took the words of the bravest man she knew, a man who wasn't brave because he would always rush headlong into any danger, a man who was brave because he was so filled with fear, a man who had the strength to conquer that fear when he was needed most.

That night she needed him the most. She had been betrayed, humiliated and defeated. Her heart had been ripped out and shown to her. Kim saw that heart, and realized just how empty it was. Empty, worthless, pulled beating from her chest and thrown on the floor, ground into the dust by the boot heel of a hollow man without a heart, without a soul. What he did would have utterly destroyed a lesser person.

Kim Possible was a lesser person until she was lifted up. She had been utterly destroyed, ready to admit the last four years of her life had been for naught. Instead her emptiness was filled, her heart buoyed and restored by three simple words, four simple words that ripped the lie down and trampled it just as her heart had been trampled.

"Out there…in here."

Later she would wonder why, with her heart restored, filled, her soul redeemed and recognized by it's mate, the only thing she could think to utter was "oh!"

Yes, it was an 'oh' moment. It was the purest 'oh' moment imaginable.

Kim Possible became the last person in her world to realize she loved Ron Stoppable with all her heart and soul. She realized that she always had, despite all her attempts to prove to herself otherwise. Missing him on Friday nights when he went to play games, that was consigned to selfishness. Crushing on him when a mad (well, ferociously unethical) scientist's technology had taken control of her emotions? Oh no, he was simply the first person she laid eyes on when it took effect, it couldn't have been the fact she already loved him. Jealousy of a girl he had actually known for about a week? That was just her selfish need for a friend again. No, she couldn't possibly be in love with him, could she?

She was and a weight had been lifted from her soul.

It was one thirty in the morning. The dance was almost over yet there the were. Curfew be damned, food chain be damned. Kim was going to dance with Ron. She was going to dance with him and she was going to do something she had only attempted once before, and that really didn't count, since it was mostly on a dare.

The Walter Nelson affair had definitely left an impression on her. So did the grounding and stern lecture from her father. She had been raised with very old fashioned values. There were things that simply were not done unless you were in love.

Her mind was barely registering the song playing. It just slightly too upbeat for a slow dance, but they didn't care. They were together, dancing as if the greatest love ballads of all time were playing. Somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized the music as being from the same artist she covered at the talent show, but that didn't matter. She was going to do for Ron what she had never done for real.

She kissed him. There was no dare, there was no moodulator. This was a kiss with all the love, all the feeling that was supposed to come with it. It was the kiss that told both of them what they wanted to know. Even when the music ended, even when the main lights of the gym came back on they stayed together. By the time they separated, Kim discovered it was actually possible to split your lip slightly by kissing. She didn't care, she simply put her head on Ron's shoulder, still dancing to the music playing in both their hearts. The ruffles of his shirt were making an impression on the bare flesh of her upper chest. She could smell the rain and sweat still in his hair, but none of that mattered.

For some reason the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she opened her eyes to behold Mr. Barkin glaring at the two of them, his arms crossed. Yet, somehow, his expression wasn't fixed into his usual seemingly military scowl. Oddly enough, there seemed to be amusement in his eyes, that, and possibly a little bit of moisture welling there. Still, when he spoke it was his same deep, gruff baritone that could command respect even from a behemoth like Bike Mike.

"Stoppable, Monique said to tell you she's taking that little pink freaky thing of yours home with her."

"Uh, thanks Mr. Barkin." Was all he could stammer.

"Now in case the two of you haven't noticed, the Prom ended some thirty minutes ago. I'd say last call, but some of us have lives tomorrow."

Message delivered and understood. They walked out of the gym the way they had come in, only this time instead of her hand being engulfed in his, their fingers were entwined. They walked past the parking lot, past a few clusters of students still milling around their cars, not quite ready to take their dates home or to wherever they intended to take them next. They walked past a white smear of fire extinguisher foam, not quite comprehending it was the smoking remains of his blue scooter after finally giving up the ghost while they danced inside. (a couple of quick thinking students had extinguished the flames and the fire department had not been called.)

They lost all sense of direction as they walked, their minds no longer working that way. They just looked at each other, their eyes looking past what they looked like on the outside, past their clothing and her makeup being thrown together. They were looking at each other and seeing their true selves.

They say fortune favors the foolish. That may be true, but fortune also favors those who are fools in love. Even that was not accurate, because they certainly did not feel foolish, unless it was to consider how they had felt up to this point. Somehow, by some design that was beyond them at the moment, or simply by lucky happenstance, they found themselves on a bluff overlooking their end of town. They were not so high up they could only see the lights of the Middleton suburbs, but it was still a beautiful sight.

Not that they looked at it very much. They kissed like they had discovered one of the universe's great truths and in a way, they had. They only stopped twice, once as Kim started shivering slightly in the late-spring coolness and once as the sun started rising, framed in their view of their homes. For the first time since they left the gym they spoke.

"I love you, KP." He said.

"Ronnie, I love you." Kim said at precisely the same time. They leaned in to kiss once more as they heard a car pull up behind them.

It was a bronze Jaguar, the same one a trio of killer robots had ripped the roof off of. That meant only one thing…

…she was _so_ busted.

Kim looked at Ron and smiled as not only her father, but his got out to collect their children.

She knew what was coming next, but it was worth it.

Oh, so worth it!

* * *

Kim Possible, all related characters and situations are © Disney.


	2. Part II

**_It Finally Happened_ Part II**

_**

* * *

**_

There was no sound, no sound at all. Even the clock with its digital face stood in mute testimony to the tension in the Possible family room.

Kim and Ron sat side by side on the couch, a position they had been in many, many times before, though in a much more…pleasant…sitch. At least they had been allowed to change out of their formal attire. Kim had first been taken upstairs by her mother and had changed into her usual sleepwear, an old crop top and sweat pants. (For a girl who might be summoned from sleep at any time it was practical to wear something both comfortable and wearable in public.) While Kim was changing out of her dress, her mother brought Ron a set of clothing as well. (In twelve years, several complete changes of clothing, not counting prepared sets of mission clothes, had accumulated at the Possible home.) If Gene had not been there she would have brought him a set of pajamas, put on her doctor's hat and marched him into the guest room for at least several hours of sleep.

The fact the two of them were now dressed in comfortable attire did nothing to relieve their current state of stress.

Anne Possible made it clear even before the kids had returned from changing she would have no part in what was to come. As they sat on the long, built in sofa of their family room, she made her way upstairs into Kim's room. She wasn't snooping, she wanted to see something for herself. In fact this was something she had discussed in depth with Kim and she had her daughter's permission to do exactly what she was doing. It was part of a bond of trust between the two women. She opened a drawer on her nightstand and took a small jewelry box out. Kim wasn't much of a jewelry girl, only wearing earrings or a necklace from time to time, but pretty baubles were not what was stored in that particular box. She took the round object out, opened it and counted, breathing a sigh of relief that it was correct. Carefully she replaced the box and closed the drawer. Whether or not Kim needed them right now or not, there was one less worry on her mind.

Kim didn't know what she was more afraid of, what her father was going to do to her or what he was going to do to Ron. It mattered quite little that precisely all they had done was kiss and hold hands. It didn't even matter that it was he father's strict upbringing of her in this regard that had kept the whole affair at that level. No, she had just spent the entire night out with a boy.

No, scratch that. Ron was not a boy. Up until six hours ago he had just been Ron, excluded from all the strictures James Possible had placed on Kim's suitors. He had always been her best friend, an almost genderless being in her father's eyes. But that wasn't why Kim would not think of him as a boy. He was a Man and that was how she would always think of him. He had proven it to her beyond anything else the world could show her, beyond his small stature, beyond the signature on his Bar Mitzvah certificate even beyond his being filled with childlike wonder, he was a man.

Her man.

She wasn't expecting the double barreled attack of both her father and Gene Stoppable. They must have planned their assault on the two new lovers in advance. Both of them were sitting in individual chairs looking at their children. They didn't look angry, they didn't actually look like anything. Kim never knew her father was capable of such a rock-steady poker face.

James was deeply conflicted. Over the years Ron had been like a third son to him. He had never imagined this turn of events, even when his Kimmie-cub had suddenly announced her big date with him at the Middleton Days festival. He had assumed it was just another 'not a date, we're just going as friends' thing. Even when she came downstairs in that stunning dress, it went clear over his head. Ron and Kim had always acted much more like a brother and sister than lov…

His mind couldn't complete that word. Not yet, not where it concerned his little girl.

If he could just get past the visions that were playing out in his head, his imagination taking the sight of the two of them holding hands, kissing, then whispering something he could not make out as they drove up, and progressing down a road his adult mind saw as the next series of actions that young, hormonally charged not-quite-adults were wont to take.

Gene was fighting back the urge to smile. He had a great deal of affection for Kim. She was a beautiful and popular girl who had lifted a great burden from him over the years. He feared that his son would be a social outcast like him, doomed to repeat his failures at that age. The fact she stuck by him despite his, well, weirdness, earned her a great deal of respect in his mind. The fact she now was willing to give him a chance at love, well, the very prospect filled his heart with joy. It would take some doing to convince Jean, his wife, about all that, but it should be worth it. He was scared the first thing out of her mouth would be 'she's nice, but I sure wish he would find a nice Jewish girl.' That didn't matter to Ron and by extension didn't matter to him but Jean was much more traditional than either of the Stoppable men.

James finally took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, fixing his daughter with a steely eyed gaze. "Kimberly Anne, at exactly what time did your 'mission' officially end?"

She glanced at Ron, who was as perplexed by the question as she was. He gave her the slightest of shrugs and she turned to face her father's glare once more. "I suppose when we first got back this morning, just a little before one."

"I see." He paused, taking another breath, obviously fighting to remain calm and logical. "Help me understand something. You left here last night to rescue Erik from Drew. When you came home, I simply assumed you were going to make up the time you lost on your date. I was a little upset at the time that you didn't actually ask permission to do that, but I was willing to let it slide since this was your Junior Prom. The next thing I know it's three o'clock in the morning, so I start calling you, but you're Kimmunicator is turned off. So I call the school, and the only people there to answer the phone don't speak English very well. Do you know what I finally had to do?"

"You called Wade?" She asked, sheepishly.

"Yes, I called his mother, waking her up so she could wake him up. He finally got a lock on your position. I don't know how, unless your Kimmunicator can't be fully turned off, but he was able to tell us you were up on Logging Camp road. I won't tell you what kind of reputation that spot has, though I'm sure you can guess.

"Now here is where you and Ronald can help us. I was expecting to see you with Erik, yet when we pulled up, well, you know what we saw. From what I saw, that was a fine boy you were with last night. While I would normally approve of you being with Ronald, considering the state you were in I just can't understand this turn of events."

"Daddy, Erik wasn't real."

"If that was the case, then you should have called me or had Ronald bring you home. Leaving one date, even if he wasn't treating you right, just to end…"

"Daddy, I mean he really wasn't real, as in he wasn't even human. Do you remember those robot goons Drakken used against us when we rescued you?"

"Uh, sure." He tilted his head, slightly confused by what his daughter was telling him.

"Erik was one of those…things. They're called Synthodrones and Drakken built him to play me. I didn't leave him at the dance, Rufus destroyed him," She reached out and took her new boyfriend's hand. "and Ron saved me."

James watched his daughter, looking at Ronald with such devotion, such love in her eyes. It was something he had never seen in her before. Not with that Mankey fellow, not with Erik. He had not seen her lit up like that since…

…since she met Ronald twelve years ago.

He had been prepared to read them the riot act. Still, he had to do something. Rules had been broken and even if they were for the right reason, a fair punishment had to be levied. He had to remain tough, but fair.

"I can't come down on you since I didn't set a curfew for you this time, but you didn't give me the chance. You didn't ask. Nor did you call to tell us where you were. That is excusable when you are on a mission, but by your own admission, that ended long before that. You're grounded for a week." Satisfied, he looked over at Gene, who smiled back at him.

"James, can I speak to you for a moment."

He nodded and both men went to the kitchen. Anne was waiting there for them, nursing a cup of coffee. Without being asked she poured cups for both of them. "Well, James, do I need to get a pressure cuff for you?"

"Huh?"

"Well, judging from the lack of yelling and crying I take it that all went well?"

Gene answered for him. "I think so. I'm going to ground Ron for pretty much the same reasons James grounded Kim, but I'm planning to make it a 'soft' grounding. Besides, I think the two of them are going to be called on quite a bit over the next few days, considering the mess those people made. I do think a little time apart before they pursue their relationship will help them get perspective, just in case there's any lingering trouble with this other…boy they have to work through."

"So they are together?" Anne asked, sipping from her cup.

"Almost certainly. I've seen this coming for a long time, the way Ron spoke of her, the way he got when she started dating that thing."

"Thing? That's awfully harsh." She commented, raising an eyebrow at him. Her face turned to shock when James told her exactly what Erik turned out to be.

"Gene, with your permission, I think I need to have a long talk with Ronald…in a few days or so."

"Oh, most certainly. I think that would do him a world of good."

They spent a good thirty minutes talking about their children. The clock struck seven and they all got up to chase Kim up to bed and for Gene to take his son home.

Both of them were sound asleep on the couch, their shoulders touching, their heads leaned up against each other's, their hands still clenched together. Anne pulled out a blanket and covered them up.

"I think I'll ground Ronald when he gets home." Gene said.

"Do you need a lift?" James asked him.

"No, I think I'll walk it. James, you've raised a fine daughter. Trust in that, trust in her."

"I'll do my best." He said as the elder Stoppable started down the sidewalk, turning for home.


	3. Part III

**_It Finally Happened_ Part III**

* * *

Kim smoothed her dress down over her hips, checking herself in the mirror. It wasn't as short as the little black dress she had worn for Ron at the Middleton Days Festival but it was almost as clingy. The neck line was just a smidgen lower as well. Not enough for cleavage, considering that was not her strong suit, but showing a little more flesh than she normally did. It was certainly a change from the demure navy dress she often wore when she felt like dressing up. It had been retired from dating service, only to be worn for church or dressy functions. To her it had become the 'we're out just as friends' dress.

She wanted to wear the black dress, but her mother had firmly vetoed it when she laid it out. For one thing, it was almost certain her father was not going to let her out of the house wearing it. She tried to defend her choice, pointing out that Daddy made no objection to it when she wore it the last time, but her mother pointed out that at the time she was just going on a date with Ron as, well, just a date. Now that they were an actual, official couple (the hip, accepted term was dating, though going steady would have been closer to the actual description of their relationship, though they would not be caught dead using it) all of that had changed.

"Kimmie, I think if you show up at the bottom of the stairs wearing that dress, you are going to do more harm than good to Ron. You saw how he reacted to it before, now compound that with the fact your father now has to worry about what you're doing while you're out with him."

"Mother!"

"It's a valid point. You're a sixteen year old, beautiful young woman who, for the first time in her life has a serious boyfriend, one who she knows, for lack of a better expression, almost intimately. You get to skip over all the awkward 'getting-to-know-you' stuff. Then add the fact I've insisted you take your meds since the really tense missions started…"

"I thought that was just for my acne." Kim squeaked as she rifled through her closet for the third time, pulling the odd dress out and holding it up to her body.

"They are, but we both know good and well what their main purpose is. That means the only thing keeping you from being completely 'intimate' with him is you. The only consequences you have to worry about are much more intangible."

"Mom, I think it's going to be a good, long time before I have to worry about something 'intangible.' I'm still trying to figure out what it means to have a real BF."

"That's good, I mean that's really good. So, about that dress," She pointed to the black dress still laid out on the bed. "Why is it you want to wear that particular one?"

"I don't know. I think Ron would really like it."

"Kimmie, I think any man with a pulse would like it. That's the problem. It's the message it sends out. So, answer me honestly. Do you want to sleep with Ron?"

"Mom!"

Anne just arched her eyebrows, still waiting for the answer.

"Well, maybe. Eventually. Most def not tonight but…I see us taking that road some day. But absolutely not tonight."

"What if Ron wants to sleep with you?"

"Mom, he's a guy, what do you think?"

"What I think is that Ron's a guy who loves you, has loved you for a long time. I can see it being very easy for him to get his signals crossed about what it means that you feel the same way about him and let me tell you, it's probably not going to be as easy to say no to him face to face as it is to say no now."

"You think Ron might try to…"

"No, I honestly don't. But he might ask you to and I'm just saying it may be a lot harder to do the right thing when you're face to face with him and he's got his arms around you."

"Mom, I promise! I'm not going to do anything but kiss him."

"If that's your decision, if that's what you think is the right thing for you right now, then good. Just remember that when the time comes."

"I think I'd better take it one step further."

"Oh?"

"No, not that, Mom. I mean Ron and I need to talk about things. We need to be honest with each other right from the start. I need to tell him how I feel about this and I need to know how he feels about it."

"Kim, I know this might sound a little strange coming from a parent, but I don't think that would be so good at this stage of your relationship. Even though you've been together with Ron for most of your life, this is, after all, your very first date together. I think you'd be better off leaving that kind of discussion for later and just have fun together tonight."

"But, do you think he…"

"No, Kimmie, I think I know Ron quite well. I trust him, I trust you but I think your father is the one having a little trouble with this. I've tried talking to him but he still thinks of you as his little Kimmie-cub."

"Mom, like you said, I'm sixteen. Most of the other girls in school have had boyfriends, well, for a pretty long time."

"Uh huh, and how many of those girls have spent the last four years taking down bad guys? Honey, much as you've tried, you have not had a normal life as a teenager. That also means your father hasn't had the process of boys easing into your life. How many dates have you been on in high school, not counting Friday nights out with Ron?"

"Uh, I guess a few times with Josh."

"You went to a dance with him your Sophomore year, you went out to dinner and a movie with him early this school year and you hung out with him at the mall maybe two or three times. I don't think that counts as very much dating and he certainly didn't seem to be much of a boyfriend. I honestly wouldn't even know his voice on the phone.

"What I'm saying is, your father is in uncharted territory. That, and he has one example of what a sixteen year old girl is like."

"How would he kno…MOM! That is _so _not an image I need!"

Anne got up from the foot of the bed and pulled a nice, off-white dress from her closet. "I think this would look nice, much more 'spring.'"

"Mom, I wanted to look good for Ron." She picked up the black dress, holding it to her chest.

"This will look good for him and I didn't tell you the other reason you shouldn't wear that dress."

Kim looked at her expectantly.

"The last time he saw you in it, you managed to chase him all over town, body slammed him, threw a popcorn stand at him."

"I didn't throw it at him, I shoved it out of the way."

"What I'm saying is, he might not have good memories about that dress, especially how heartbroken he was when he found out you weren't crushing on him."

"Mom, he was okay."

"Honey, that's just the face he was showing you. He's really good at that. Trust me, if he was any less of a friend than he is, you probably would have lost him, at least for a little while. And trust me about the dress. I think you could walk downstairs in a burlap sack tonight and he won't care." She held the light colored dress up to Kim's body. "Besides, in the right light, I think he might appreciate this dress quite well."

Kim waited until her mother went downstairs before she slipped out of her robe and put on the dress. Considering their discussion, she really didn't want her mother to see what else she had to go with it. It wasn't something she had ever considered before, but Monique had insisted. In fact, Monique had almost bodily dragged her to Alexandria's Confession when the subject of tonight's date had first come up.

"Girl, I know you're not going to wear those granny panties under that LBD." She said, making it more of a commandment than a statement."

"Mm, hmm. So you're just gonna go out with your man wearing something appropriate only for a pajama party? Let me guess, cotton, with little pink hearts on it?"

"Monique, what does what I'm wearing under the dress have anything to do with anything? It's not like he's going to see it…yet."

"Girlfriend, it's not about what he's seeing…_yet_" she added with emphasis. "It's about you knowing what you've got on, it's about feeling sexy under your clothes."

"But Ron has seen me in my underwear a couple times. I think he's used to cotton…"

"Kim, you're not listening to me." She held up something that was more lace than any other fabric. "When you wear something like this its YDLS."

"YDLS?"

"Your Dirty Little Secret. It makes you feel sexy and if you feel sexy it rubs off on your man and if he should get the chance to see…"

"Monique!" Kim half whispered, half shrieked at her GGF.

No, she so did not want her mother knowing what she was wearing under the dress. Sure Ron had seen her in her underwear, though mostly by accident. She didn't want to think about the time they switched brains, considering the things she learned about him at the time. Ron being Ron she could only imagine what he went through. After all, they were switched for a couple days. Bathroom breaks and clothing changes had been unavoidable. She really didn't want to think about her 'not-so-fresh' feeling afterwards, but she'd forgiven him due to ignorance. Just as he forgave her for the zipper incident. Then there was the time down in Florida when the alligator had ripped her Club Banana capris to shreds. Ron had been quick to grab her a double extra large 'Save the Manatees' shirt but he did make an off-hand comment on the way to Smarty Mart for 'emergency pants.'

"Not a real good day to have worn plain white panties?"

It didn't dawn on her until later what that meant. Suffice to say she turned redder than Ron's old hockey jersey. By the time she confronted him about it they were on another mission, one where his pants had already taken worse than her gator chomped capris. "Turnabout's fair play, KP."

She tuned and looked at her back in the mirror. The dress not only showed more skin in front, it did in the back as well. She pulled her hair up over her shoulder, looking at her back, at the faint freckles that were still there (usually hidden by her hair.)

A car was pulling up outside. Ron had his mother's car, making Kim wonder exactly how he had procured it. It had taken him half a dozen tries to get his learner permit and almost as many attempts at the DMV to get his actual license. She certainly hoped it wasn't going to be a case of his parents driving them on their date. If that were the case, she'd beg her mother for the mini-van and drive herself.

Like that was going to happen. Kim wasn't known as the sanest driver on the road. She liked to drive and drive fast and it was mostly her reputation that kept her from being stopped time after time for speeding. Fast planes, fast snowboards, fast off-road vehicles, they had left their impression on her. She was always the type to stomp on the accelerator and not let up until it was time to stop.

Outwardly calm, but with butterflies tearing up her inside like a ravenous school of piranha, she sat down at her dresser to do her makeup. Ron may have been there, but he would have to sit down and talk to her father, alone first.

She had plenty of time to make herself pretty.


	4. Part IV

**_It Finally Happened_ Part IV**

* * *

Ron put his hand on the key, ready to kill the engine. The first hurdle of he the evening was now past him. Now as he stared at the freshly mortared stone of the Possible home's main entrance he felt like he was fast approaching his doom.

_I can get through this. On the other side is Kim. If I survive…when I survive this ordeal it will be just me and Kim and a first, real, bona fide date._

As slowly and deliberately he turned the key of his mother's 1978 Pontiac Catalina. The 'battleship' slowly chugged, not willing to surrender its petroleum fueled life as if it were in fear it would never live again. It dieseled one more time then sank into silence save the sounds of heated metal creaking from the engine block.

His father had been all too happy to hand him the keys to his much newer, much smaller Camry, but his mother had swooped in from above and dispelled that very notion. He was going to take the big car, the one that, even with its V-8 engine, was sorely underpowered. The one that could ram a brick wall and come through unscathed. If her little man was going to be driving around, at least he would do it in a vehicle that would be safe!

Neither car would have been his first choice, but it was all he had to choose from. Still, despite it being extremely non-badical, the Toyota was better than the old, slightly rusty tank. It had a nice tape-deck (his father thought CD players were just a fad) and the V-6, coupled to a much lighter car, felt a great deal more powerful than his mother's old chunk of real Detroit steel. At least with permission to drive at all secured from his father, he had been spared having that kind of argument with his mother.

It would have been nice if he still had his Naco royalties. Then he would have sought out his dream car, a black 1977 Trans Am with a T-roof and full Firebird decals, complete, all the way down to an old Georgia flag front plate and a working CB. The fact he was nothing like the driver of said movie inspired fantasy didn't bother him in the least.

He nearly stumbled on the stoop, bringing his mind crashing back to reality. On the other side of that freshly painted red door waited the love of his life. With all the fortitude he could summon, he reached for the doorbell. The act itself felt so odd, so different. Here was a home he could enter, at will, any time day or night, yet this time it was different. There was a right way of doing things and announcing his presence counted itself among those ways.

As it happened, his finger never touched the doorbell.

The déjà vu he felt up to that point was dashed away. The last time he had been in this position he had been whisked into the house by the two doctors Possible. This time he was greeted with a sight that stopped him cold, making the 'spilly willies' seem like a mild quiver.

In the past year Ron had noticed he was starting to grow again. After being very slightly shorter than Kim for so long, he now had just about an inch on her. That didn't help one little bit as the towering, glaring vision in the doorway sized him up. There was not a trace of humor on the back-lit face of James Possible, the light giving his lightning bolt shaped streak of gray a sinister glow. The image was not helped by the fact he had not spoken a word to him the few times he had been by to pick up Kim for a mission, the only reason either of them had been let out of the house during their grounding.

"Ronald." He spoke at last, his voice flat.

"Mr. Dr. P." Ron responded, trying to keep his voice from shifting up an octave.

"Please come in." He stepped aside, making way for the quaking teen.

As he brushed past the man who sired the single most important person in his life, Ron realized he was not dressed simply in his usual tan shirt and brown trousers. Another garment had been added to the ensemble, one whose implications were not lost on him in the least. It was something he had never seen the elder Possible wear at home.

Kim's father was wearing a neatly pressed, white lab coat.

Without another word he ushered him into the sitting room. The comfortable, homey luxury of the family beckoned to him, the warm embrace of the familiar couch inviting him onward. That was not to be. Two other men waited in the sitting room, blocking his path to the family sanctum. Each appeared to be at least a decade younger than Kim's parents and each was wearing equally neat white coats.

James Possible followed him into the room, taking a metal suitcase from beneath the low cocktail table, undoing the combination lock and opening it, the contents hidden from view.

"Ronald, I don't believe you have met Doctor Eng and Doctor Michaels before. They are colleagues of mine from the Space Center, though they work in a different department for the time being."

Ron could just stand there in mute silence. His slightly sluggish mind had ground to an utter and complete halt. It was a wonder he didn't start drooling.

James nodded to the two men. They each reached into the suitcase, one removing a tiny folding tripod shaped device, the other producing what looked for all the world like a wafer thin bathroom scale. In fact, he was very, very close, considering the next thing Dr. Eng did was make him stand on it while Dr. Michaels set up the tripod at his feet. A tiny red laser sprang to life, enveloping his whole body in a grid. Moments later it shut off and the two scientists returned the tools to the case, shutting and latching it. Dr. Michaels picked up the case and nodded to James.

"Thank you, gentlemen. I look forward to seeing you on Monday." He politely showed the men to the door, leaving the stunned and shaken Ron in their wake. He wasn't certain, but he could swear he heard them burst into laughter as they walked away.

James stepped back into the room, removing his lab coat and draping it over the back of a chair. "Alright, since that's taken care of, now we can have a little chat, Ronald."

"Dr. P, what was all that about?"

"Oh, they just needed to take some biometric readings."

"On me? Who were those men?"

"Dr. Eng is the head of the EVA suit lab. He designs and supervises the construction of space suits. Dr. Michaels is part of our space probe lab."

"What has that got to do with me?"

"Oh, hopefully nothing, just a minor precaution. Please, let's go to the family room. I'm sure you will be more comfortable there. As well as you know Kim, I don't think you're aware of just how long it can take her to get ready sometimes."

"Um, sure." He said, not knowing what the older man was talking about. Kim was a master at throwing herself together in minutes, though that usually involved mock turtlenecks and cargo pants. A week and one half day ago she had gone from a rain-soaked, battle-suit clad avenger to a ravishing beauty in the time it took for him to rocket home, throw on his tux and rocket back.

James took a seat in the same high backed easy chair he had the night before. Ron noticed he had settle into his usual place as well. He also noticed that, despite his polite, calm voice, Kim's father still had his poker face on.

"Ronald, I won't beat around the bush with you. I like you, I always have. You have always been a great friend for my Kimmie-cub and I am quite proud of the way you respect her. Back during that…unfortunate escapade back in early spring, you handled yourself like a man and a gentleman. I never got the chance to properly thank you for that.

"Your father and I are both protective of our children. Despite the fact that once we were done talking to the two of you about it we weren't really mad at you any more, we still felt like it was a good idea to put the brakes on, at least for a week. You see, Kimmie is, shall we say, quite volatile. We wanted to make certain she wasn't jumping into something too quickly because of what that…thing…did to her. I hope you can understand, we had the best interests of both of you in mind."

"I think I do, Dr. P. It wasn't like we didn't get to see each other, with GJ calling us every five minutes."

"I know, and that was perfectly fine. It let the two of you interact the way you normally do, let you come to grips with all of this without all the romantic feelings getting in the way. Plus I'm sure, as your cell-phone bills will attest, it gave you two plenty of time to just talk.

"Now, I want you to answer me, man to man. Do you love Kimberly Anne?"

"Y…yes sir."

"Good. Then you should understand me. Everything I do, everything I say that involves my daughter is because I love her. If that means grounding her, if that means keeping the two of you apart, it's all because I would not let anything in the world hurt her. I may not be able to protect her from the super-freaks of the world, but everything else can either make me the sweetest Daddy in the world or the worst son-of-a-bitch you've ever seen. Do you understand that?"

"Yes sir!"

"I don't ever want to see her hurt. Now I don't mean if you make her cry or the two of you have a fight or something like that. I mean if you hurt her, I mean really, really hurt her then I'm going to be the first of many S O Bs you will be answering too. Kimmie-cub is one of the strongest women I have ever known, but under all that she is really a shy, emotional little girl. Try to remember that."

"I will, Dr. P."

"Ronald, I don't have to tell you how much you have meant in her life. Even if the two of you hadn't fallen _in love_, she still loved you very much, even if she forgot how to show it from time to time. Of all the boys who have come in and out of her life, you're the only one I consider worthy of her. Don't forget that."

"I won't."

"Good. Because I would hate to have to call doctors Eng and Michaels Monday morning to tell them they've got an extra sixty-six point one three four kilograms to send up in the latest black hole probe. Now, let's see if Kimmie-cub is ready for your big date."

* * *

A/N -- I used to have a 1978 Pontiac Catalina. It wasn't a cool car, it wasn't even a very nice looking car. It was kind of boxy, with lots of squared off angles and such. It was a honking big tank (not as big as my mother's 76 LeSabre) Despite all of that, I have very fond memories of that car. My parents bought it when I was eleven. It had about ten miles on it at the time. A few years ago when it finally gave up the ghost the odometer had broken around 250K (it probably was pushing 300K) It was ugly, maroon, had a vinyl top that rotted every few years, but I got my license in that car, I spent many family vacations in it and I proposed to my wife in it 20 years ago this summer (we'll be married 17 years by then) so it wasn't by random choice I picked it for their date.

Now, without further adieu, it's time for their date:)


	5. Part V

**_It Finally Happened:_Part V**

* * *

Somehow Ron wished the drive could last all night. His mother may have insisted on taking the big car because is was safer (and slower) but she did not count on the wide, bench seats of the old family cruiser. Kim did something he would have never expected from his 'safety first and always' girlfriend. She slipped out of her shoulder harness and buckled the center lap belt on, snuggling close, holding his arm loosely so he could still handle the wheel. It didn't matter, the power steering was so smooth he could handle the mighty gunboat with his pinky.

He was thankful that their 'grounding' had been fairly liberal. Missions had come up and, considering the fact they had just saved the world, none of their parents raised any objections, just so long as both of them went straight home once their transportation delivered them to Middleton. That meant every moment on all the drafty airplanes, noisy helicopters, sleek hoverjets and other assorted means of transportation was enjoyed to its fullest. They didn't talk so much as they were together, Kim holding onto his arm just as she was right now, her head resting on his shoulder, his figurative position in their relationship becoming literal.

When Kim appeared at the top of the stairs, Ron's jaw didn't hang open, only to be restored by her father. His smile was too big, too wide to allow his mouth to fly open. Her mother appeared behind her, positively beaming.

Vague threats of being sent into outer space were pushed aside in his mind. All he could think of now was Kim, his Kim looking like an angel in a summery, nearly white dress, her hair cascading over her shoulders, framing her round, flawless face, her green eyes flashing like jewels. After a few moment he realized he had to start breathing again. Even when he did, he wondered if his lungs could keep pace with the pounding in his chest.

He knew Kim was beautiful. Not just beautiful but absolutely stunning. He even thought all those pictures her brothers had taken and distributed over the internet were beautiful. He had every one on his computer at home, along with the cd-rom she put together for him the Christmas before last. What made this different, what made him feel so warm inside (and most def glad he was a boxers man) was that she had done this for him. It wasn't done for those whose names he would not even think tonight, it was for him, Ron Stoppable.

He had gone all out for her. The last time he had shown up for a date with her, all he could think of was ending the surprising, unasked for relationship in order to protect their friendship. He had simply combed his hair (time wasted) and put on a fresh jersey (considering Kim had 'jacked' one of the others at school.) Not the best impression he could have made, especially considering the outfit she had appeared in. (He secretly wished she had worn it again but could quite easily understand why she might not want to wear it again.)

He considered consulting Monique about what to wear, but somehow that didn't sit right with him. Sure, she had great fashion sense, but that wouldn't be him, it wouldn't be what Kim had fallen for. Still, shabby Smarty Mart cargos, dirty sneakers that had been white once and stretched out, threadbare red jerseys were not what he was going to arrive for their first official, real, non-electronically enhanced date wearing. His new clothes were still from Smarty Mart (all he could afford) but they fit, looked good and had a crisp, new look to them.

He had quickly foregone wearing a tie. Along with his 'going to dress like Ron' theme he instead picked out a navy shirt with a button-down collar and a nice pair of charcoal colored slacks, just slightly darker than his mission cargos with a touch more texture to the color. Knowing what he planned that evening, he skipped over his black Temple shoes (he could only take wearing them on Saturday mornings) instead picking out a nice pair of loafers.

He could tell the way Kim's eyes lit up as she descended the stairs he had done well. More than well, considering the warm kiss she had given him, right in front of her parents. It was only a hint of the kisses she intended to give him that evening, but it still almost burned his shoes right to the carpet of the foyer.

It wasn't until he put the car into drive, the ancient transmission spooling up like a high-dollar sewing machine, that he realized that no curfew had been set. He stewed on that for a little while, enjoying the warmth of his lady snuggled up against him in the big automobile.

"KP, did your dad tell you when you've got to be home tonight."

"Mm, mmm" she answered, almost dozing against him.

"Ya think we need to call, just to be sure? I don't want to spend another week grounded like that. It felt like we had maybe five minutes to call our own."

"Tell you what, we'll call at ten. If they don't say anything then, we'll be home by midnight." She settled back down on his shoulder, closing her eyes

Ron started deliberately taking wrong turns, wanting to prolong this moment as long as he could. All too soon they were pulling up at the restaurant. It wasn't the finest dining establishment in town, but it was no slouch either. One day he might have built up enough favors with the culinary masters of Middleton to secure them tables among the giants of the growing city's social elite. Today he had to go where he could afford. At least it was a real, sit-down affair with tablecloths and waiters with black ties and white aprons.

Just so long as Kim didn't up and order the surf and turf.

Kim leaned over the table, looking at him through the candle flame, resting her chin on her fists, smiling faintly as her eyelids drooped. "Ronnie, I can't get over how good you look, all dressed up. Who knew you could be such a spankin dresser."

"I am what I is." He said, not willing to take his eyes off her. She giggled lightly, recalling one of their missions when he had spoken that line. In moments both of them were laughing.

Kim took a packet of crackers and spread some soft cheese on them. "Rufus is going to be upset he missed this."

"I know. We made us a little deal. Saturday night dates are just the two of us, and I take him to Bueno Nacho as soon as they get back open."

"Ron, you go to Bueno Nacho anyway, as often as you can."

"Shhhhh, don't let the little guy know. He still thinks he's getting the better end of the deal. I still had to bribe him with a whole pack of Deli Deluxe American."

"Oh, so you didn't have to pull out the big guns?"

"Couldn't. He polished off the stilton and the Roquefort the other day. Let me tell you, you did not want to get anywhere near his box."

"I can imagine. So, big guy, now that you have me all to yourself, what do you plan to do with me?" She plopped down on her fists again, making dreamy eyes at him.

"Well, I kinda thought since we didn't get to do too much dancing last week at the prom, I'd try to make it up to you tonight."

As if on cue, the lights dimmed just a tad more. Moments later a small band took the stage, followed by a young woman with long, dark hair. Kim squinted at her, thinking she looked familiar but couldn't quite place her.

At least until she started singing.

"Ron, that isn't…"

"Sure is!"

They both sat and watched as the young woman launched into a song both of them were very familiar with. Kim had a hard time keeping herself from singing along as she launched into the chorus of _Say the Word_.

Kim hardly noticed as the waiter brought their food. The singer shifted into a slow ballad and many patrons found their way to the dance floor.

"Ronnie, come on, let's dance. I don't want to chance missing her sing the song from our prom."

"Patience, my love. I have it on good authority she will sing it near the end of her set. We've got plenty of time to enjoy our food."

Kim looked at her plate and back at Ron. In a flash she was grabbing his hand, pulling him out to the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close, "I would rather have a cold meal and lots of time dancing with you." She whispered, giving him a quick peck on the lips before putting her chin on his shoulder. "Mmmm, Ronnie, why do I get the impression by this time next year I won't be able to do this?"

"What, dance? Why wouldn't you be able to dance."

"I mean this," she nuzzled his ear for effect, "Call it my woman's intuition, I somehow get the feeling you're a long way from being done growing."

"I hope I am. I don't want to get a hunchback from leaning down to kiss you."

"Aren't I worth it."

"Every day, KP, every day." He nuzzled her back, eliciting a slight purr."

A lot of dancers drifted away as the girl switched to more upbeat songs, so they retreated to their own table, picking at their still mostly warm food, every so often feeding each other some tidbit from their plates.

Another couple, perhaps a decade older made their way by, their meal finished. The woman was about Kim's height and would have had her build if she wasn't late in pregnancy. She smiled at them as they walked by. "Are you two celebrating an anniversary?"

"Um, no, actually this is our first date."

"Wow. I'd have guessed watching you two that you'd been together for years. Good luck." She said as she waddled away, supported by her young husband.

"We've skipped right to 'old-married.'" Kim said, watching the retreating couple. When she looked back at Ron, he was looking intently at the stage.

His eyes met the singer's. She nodded toward him and he took Kim's hand. "Come on, it's time."

The music started just as they reached the dance floor. It was still a much more upbeat song than the slow ballad had been earlier, but they didn't care. This was now and forever would be their song. Other dancers followed them onto the floor as they gravitated to the center, this time spending much more of _Could It Be_ looking into each other's eyes, their bodies pressed close to each other. As the final chorus started they could hold back no longer. Their lips met and they danced, kissing each other just like it was the first time all over again.

As the song ended and the audience applauded they kept on dancing, reliving that moment at the Prom. Seeing them, the singer launched into an encore, reprising the song.

All too soon it was getting close to ten. Ron paid the bill, leaving a more than adequate tip and they walked to the lobby. Kim was grinning from ear to ear when she put away her Kimmunicator.

"That was Mom. I think you just made Daddy's decade having me call at ten, but they didn't give us a curfew." She leaned in close to whisper to him. "I have you all night if I want you." She purred.

"Booyah." He whispered back. "I tell you what, though, KP. We've got all the time in the world, especially with summer vacation coming in a few weeks. Why don't we keep me on your Dad's good side and have you home by midnight anyway."

"I like the way you think, Romance Boy. So, what is your plan for the next two hours?"

He took her hand, leading her out into the night. "Why don't we make it up as we go along."

"Spankin." She replied as he held the car door open for her.

Even though it was the end of May, Ron had to run the defroster for a few minutes before they left the parking lot, leaving just enough time to get Kim home by twelve.


	6. Part VI

**_It Finally Happened_: Part VI **

Kim drifted through her darkened home as if she was on a cloud. All the lights, save the porch light were off, leaving only the moonlight to guide her steps. Despite her joy she couldn't help but wonder how her mother had managed to get both the Tweebs and her father to go to bed while she was out on a date, open ended curfew or not.

She half danced, half skipped up the stairs, pretending Ron was still with her, his warm body still pressed up against her. It was a nice, pleasant late spring night, yet she still craved to mingle their body heat once more. She craved a great many things at that moment, but she would not give voice to most of them. Some of those hungers were new to her and she didn't know if she were ready to give them sup.

Quietly she pulled the hatch of her loft shut, latching it, doing the same with the hallway door opposite her bed. She fretted for a moment that locking her doors would send the wrong message, but she held no illusions that anyone was asleep in the house. Her mother may have packed the boys off to their room and enticed her father with… well, she wouldn't go there, but she knew they had most likely watched with keen interest as his car pulled away. The Tweebs were probably online at that very moment, ready to capture anything she wrote in her online diary. Joke's on them, she thought, she wasn't about to commit any of her thoughts where they or Wade could get to them. This was between Ron and her.

Well, and probably Monique. Nothing had happened on the date that couldn't be discussed with her. In fact, she was already busting at the seams to spill all the glorious details of the highly romantic date to her. There was also the matter of the YDLS underwear. Panties that rode up and made you want to run to the ladies room to extract them every five minutes do _not_ make one feel sexier!

She looked in the mirror. Her lipstick was long, long gone and her hair was a little rumpled where Ron had run his fingers through it, not to mention when she demonstrated just how flippy it still was. Her man was absolutely hypnotized by the flippy! Still, a touch of makeup, a quick run-through with a brush and she would be as presentable as she had been when she left the house five hours earlier.

Five hours. More like five minutes. It seemed like the whole evening had flashed by in an instant, from Ron picking her up looking like a knight in armor, the food, the dancing. She wondered whether he had called in any favors of his own to have that particular artist singing tonight or if it was just a happy coincidence. Then there was the extended make-out session in his mother's car. Kim now had a new definition for 'perfect' when it came to a date.

Almost perfect. Ron had been touching her almost the whole evening, but it was his hands on her hips or around the small of her back or holding her hand or cupping the back of her head as they kissed. He had been the perfect gentleman, yet she wished he had strayed from that perfection, just a little bit. She wasn't ready to sleep with him, not just yet, but she still wanted him to be just a bit naughtier. In the mirror she ran her hands down her body, smoothing the pale dress against her, her palms crossing some of the areas she wished large strong palms had crossed earlier.

Slipping the straps off her shoulder, she let the dress drop to the floor, leaving her dressed only in barely there lace and her black choker. A little part of her wished she had shared her 'dirty little secret' with Ron, maybe just a peek. The very thought made her blush, as the rather uncomfortable panties left almost nothing to the imagination. Then too, that might have made Ron uncomfortable as well. In fact, it probably would have given him a coronary, or at least a serious nose-bleed. It would take time to guide him toward a bit of naughtiness. For now he seemed to be going out of his way to be an absolutely perfect gentleman, a young man both his and her father could be proud of.

Kim hoped that was the case. She loved her father and truly respected Gene Stoppable, but she wanted just a little more from Ron, just a little bit of the bad boy she knew was in him. There were parts of her that were responding once more just thinking of him. Of course, this was a first date, but then, just as the young married couple at the restaurant had observed, it really wasn't. They had really been dating for years, only now it included all the touching, hand holding and kissing.

Thinking back, she always had a sort of thrill whenever Ron would touch her. It was little things, like the scary movie they had seen together when they were twelve. She spent the whole picture with her hand clamped into his. That seemed so natural, so right until the house lights came up and their logical minds took over, clearly stating that such a position was simply awk-weird. Why couldn't she see that then, or over the four intervening years that it wasn't weird or silly to want to hold his hand. She planned to do that a lot, especially considering it was one of the few PDAs that was permitted at school.

After one more look at her nearly naked form, she quickly changed out of the lace, slipping back into plain cotton before putting her pajamas on. Monique's 'suggestion' was stuffed deep into her backpack so she could dispose of them well away from the house. It wouldn't do for anyone, be it her mother, her brothers or especially her father to discover them, even in the trash. Monday morning there would be a quick stop by the dumpster at school where she would dispose of several wadded up bags and other detritus, the hoochie-mama torture-wear hidden among them.

She drifted to sleep, half expecting to hear her phone, cell or Kimmunicator go off with Monique begging for her to spill. Pandaroo was shoved to the side in favor of a pillow, a pillow that somehow took on hair the color of Nebraska corn and freckles as slumber claimed her.

* * *

The second date was going wonderfully. Kim managed to convince her mother that Ron wouldn't be upset to see her in her black cocktail dress. She was right, he certainly did appreciate it. Kim could see it in his eyes and in the way he moved. He took her dancing again, this time bowing out from the dance floor early, driving her to the bluff where they ended up after the prom.

Kim almost couldn't wait for the engine to die down as she started kissing him, throwing one leg over his. She held his head with both hands, cupping his ears as their lips pressed together, their tongues working together in a dance not unlike the one their bodies had shared on the dance floor. His hands rested on her hips like two fire brands, slipping to the small of her back as she pressed her body up against his.

She could feel the wiry muscles of his chest twitching under her as she forced him down on the wide seat. His narrow body was not weak and soft as his 'favorite' teacher would often taunt him. He was strong and he was getting stronger every day. Years of being her sidekick were finally starting to show as he stepped up more and more. He was her partner, now in more ways than one. Her body moved against him, his response now evident. Their lips parted and he moved to her neck, placing small kisses there until he stopped at one spot, kissing her harder and harder there as little moans escaped her throat. She was going to have to wear turtlenecks for the next few days, that was for sure, but this was so…_spankin!_

His hands slid down her back until they were cupping her backside, kneading her soft but muscular buttocks. She made no move to stop him. She had no intention of stopping him. In fact, she wanted more. Her hands slipped free from the sides of his face, wrapping around him. One hand slipped past his belt, deep into his boxers, returning the favor he was granting her.

Somehow she could feel a slight draft. With a slight purr she realized as he was fondling her butt he was also slowly bunching the bottom of her dress. It was already halfway up her cheeks. His hands crossed onto bare flesh and lace, sending a quiver through her whole body. Pulling her hands off his backside, she started unbuttoning his shirt, kissing his neck, intending to force him into wearing a high collar for a few days as well.

There was a sudden tearing sound, as delicate lace was sundered by strong hands, hands that kept exploring, gentle touches replacing the touch of embroidered silk, the cool air a strange sensation, his warm touch even stranger. He sat up, pushing her back, lowering her down to the seat. She went willingly, ready, hungry for this. His lips met hers again as her arms wrapped around him as he…

* * *

Green eyes snapped open in the dark bedroom. A pillow was crushed in her arms so tight it would likely never fluff properly again. A strange but wonderful shudder rolled though her body, through her soul even as the vivid dream slipped away, back into her subconscious, the brief moment of lovemaking staying with her the longest.

Letting go of the pillow she rolled onto her back, taking a deep breath, trying to sort out exactly what had just happened to her. The dream was the very thing she kept telling herself she was not ready for, though it had been so real, so nice, so…natural. Was that what she really wanted deep down, or was it just some animal urge that a moral, civilized young woman should keep to herself until the right time came?

Throwing the covers off so she cold cool down, Kim had a slightly naughty thought.

_What if Ron and I shared that dream like that time in the museum?_

A few blocks away a blonde haired young man was looking in the mirror as he started the water in his sink, thinking precisely the same thing.


	7. Part VII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part VII**

* * *

"So, Mom is just about to set the table for breakfast and in walks Ron, all dressed up in a nice white shirt, a tie, his black Temple shoes. I mean, he couldn't have had more than five hours of sleep before getting up that early, yet he looked like a million bucks. You would have sworn my parents were racing each other to hug him."

"You mean to tell me that Dude-Boy not only blows you away with the perfect date, he shows up to go to church with the fam the next morning? Girlfriend I am so gelling I am about to turn the same color as your top! I need to scoot on back home and squeeze myself into something so I can steal him from you."

"You're welcome to try." Kim said in a half-joking, half-serious voice, grinning at her girlfriend.

"So he's going to church with you now, bringing you home long before your parents say to even though both of them adore him anyway. Girl, you have struck gold."

"Is that my ears burning?" Ron asked, grinning as he approached the two girls dishing in the caf.

"No, we're talking about you're evil twin who's trying to worm his way into Kim's heart" She said, leaning over the table and making exaggerated puppy-dog eyes at him. "What do you think Kim and I would be talking about today, _Dream_ Boy?"

Monique giggled uncontrollably as Kim turned bright red, rivaling the minidress she almost always wore. What surprised her was Ron turning crimson himself. Certainly Kim hadn't shared _that_ particular dream with him, at least as she was fond of saying 'yet.'

"See ya later, Kim. I've got a library book due and I don't even want to think of being late with it." All three teens shuddered at the thought, Kim especially, having suffered through "Library Lock-up" on one occasion.

Kim figured her friend wasn't really on her way to the library, she was only making way for Ron. That was something she was going to have to put to rest pretty quickly. Them being together was so not the drama, at least where their friends were concerned. All that should have changed as far as everyone else was concerned was the couple were now aware they were making googly eyes at each other. It wasn't like they were going to be smacking lips here in the hallways of Middleton High School, especially considering the extra attention they were getting from Mr. Barkin, who seemed to be eager to catch the two breaking the school's ferociously strict PDA policy. They had been extraordinarily careful that all he would see them doing was holding hands and even that brought his baleful glare.

"I missed you at the start of lunch period, sweetie." Kim said, honey dripping from her voice.

"Sweetie?"

"Honey?"

"Uh uh."

"Baby?"

"Only in private."

"Okay, then what? You already have a special nickname for me, what am I supposed to do? R S doesn't really roll off the tongue."

"I dunno. I kind of like when you call me Ronnie."

"Isn't that what your cousin Shawn calls you?" She tilted her head slightly, perplexed at him.

"Uh, wow, never noticed that. I guess I only notice when you say it, you know, like when you were crushing on me."

"I thought that just brought back bad memories."

"Bad? Why would it be bad? The only thing bad was the fact I was willing to screw something like that up so easily. I should have been digging the attention."

"I think your weirdar was going off and you knew somehow it wasn't real, so you weren't throwing anything away." She slid her tray, with its half-eaten mystery meal toward him. "Here, want any, I know you're a growing boy, my sweet Ronnie-poo." She hooked her index finger around his and gave his hand a little wiggle.

At the mention of food, a tiny, pink head popped out of his cargo pocket and made a bee-line straight for the tray. Rufus didn't have to be asked twice as he plowed into something that might have once meant to be macaroni and cheese.

"Uh, no, I just needed to ask if I could borrow the Kimmunicator for a bit."

"What for?"

"Oh, I just needed to get Wade's help with some stuff, you know, helping me get ready for finals and all."

"Okay, it's in my backpack."

"Thanks, KP."

He squatted down behind her seat, rummaging through the bag, his hand closing on the familiar shape. Without looking he plopped it into the opposite cargo pocket and called for Rufus.

"Not done" the little mole rat squeaked back at his human.

"No time, Rufus, come on, lets go."

"Burger Prince with Mon and Felix this afternoon?" Kim asked.

"Maybe. Gotta go, love ya." He waited until Barkin's back was to them and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, giving her hand a squeeze, a move couples in the school called a 'hand hug' as a sort of substitute for a real public display of affection.

Ron walked confidently down D-hall, his mind focused like a laser on the text message Ned sent him on his cell-phone. He was grinning from ear to ear about the proposal his favorite eating establishment and one-time employer had for him. It meant not only some real spotlight for him without riding on Kim's coattails and the return of all the spicy, crunchy, cheesy foods his body and soul craved. Combining all that with the fact he would be able to share it with the most bon-diggity girlfriend ever (okay, first real one any way, but why not start with the best. Heck, start _and_ end with the best!) All he had to do was have Wade patch in a video conference with some of the new BN brass.

The D-hall bullies gave him a smile and a wave as he strode past them. The look of fear they once had after Kim gave them some 'sensitivity training' while wearing his body had long faded, replaced with admiration and not a little envy. _So not the loser_ he thought as he rounded the corner into the student commons.

Rufus was dozing in his pocket, so he left the little guy alone unless the honchos needed to speak to him as well. Visions of "Naco Boy" were swirling around in his head as he pulled the Kim's all purpose communication device from his other pocket.

For the first time he realized something was wrapped partially around the blue plastic casing. At first he thought it might be a handkerchief of some sort. It was pink, bright pink. Not the kind of pink you found on a rose petal but bright, blinding pink that said 'look at me!' He pulled it loose from the Kimmunicator, not quite realizing what it was until is was fully unfolded in his hands.

His mind froze, taking his whole body with it. The Kimmunicator clattered to the floor, utterly forgotten as the image of see-thru lace panties burned into his hormonally charged male brain. His overloaded synapses barely registered the approach of three students until he was covered in their shadow, cornered out in the commons. Recognition and comprehension surged through his mind. Seniors…Male…

…Brick Flagg, Josh Mankey and… _Walter Nelson_?

Suddenly it clicked. He was sitting there, alone, holding a pair of seriously_ naughty_ women's panties stretched between his hands as the three looked down at him. Before he could do anything, Brick snatched them right up into his paws.

"Stoppable, I didn't think you had it in you!" He clapped a big paw on his shoulder, passing the tiny bit of pink to Josh.

"Ron-man, you did us proud." Josh said. Walter just stood there grinning, displaying his perfect teeth.

"Uh, guys, it's not what you think…"

"It's cool, man" Brick said. "Real gentlemen never _kiss_ and tell." His emphasis on kiss set all three of them off in raucous laughter.

"See, I knew when she kissed me she was holding something back." Walter said, still grinning.

"Must be something to remember her by before she 'drifts away' from you, huh, Ron." Josh added.

Anger flared in Ron's eyes, a rage seething from the pit of his stomach. Brick he could take saying things like that, even about Kim. But Josh, who, up to this point had always seemed so cool, so mellow about his not-quite relationship with Kim, that just re-ignited an ember of dislike, bordering on hatred he had kept at bay over the last two years. Walter didn't even require any new flames. He always held a special dislike for the over-groomed preppie pretty boy. He didn't even qualify as a real crush for Kim. That kiss had been purely a dare, something middle-school peer pressure had seemingly forced on her.

"Give me that." Ron snarled, snatching the underwear from Josh's hands.

At about that moment someone else rounded the corner. There was a sharp intake of breath.

Ron could only gape at the sight of Kim standing there, seeing him holding her panties up in front of the three boys, as if showing them off like a trophy.


	8. Part VIII

_**It Finally Happened: Part VIII**_

_**

* * *

**_If righteous fury were combustible, most of Middleton, or at least a swath leading from Middleton High school to a nice, upper/middle class neighborhood would have been scorched right down to the bedrock. In the halls of said school it was as if Miss Hatchet had left the confines of the library, stalking her next vic…student with an overdue book. No one who saw the out and out rage in Kim Possible's eyes would dare to even approach her as she stomped down the corridors of the school, right out the front doors without so much as saying a word. The class bells announcing the end of lunch went unheard by her as she crossed the parking lot, not even bothering to look if anyone would bar her path. Steve Barkin saw the teen leaving but, not having seen her expression, only assumed she had been called away from the school for one of her missions. He shrugged, knowing that somehow the young woman still managed to maintain stellar grades, despite the actual class time she managed to miss. He did find it odd that Stoppable wasn't with her, but he dismissed that, thinking it might be only a minor issue needing only her attention. That being the case, she would likely be back quickly. 

Kim was not going to be coming back quickly. Rage, betrayal and despair all fought for supremacy in her head, the mix creating a tumult displayed on her face in an expression that would have done Shego proud if she were not cooling her heals in prison. In fact, if her hair had been black, her skin light green and her hands wreathed in emerald flame, she could quite easily have been mistaken for the villainess.

By the time she reached the door of her home, the rage had faded, replaced by tears welling in her eyes. The shock of the image burned into her retinas or Ron holding that nasty underwear for those other boys to see, _those_ boys in particular was slowly being tempered by a sliver or rationality and a dollop of self-recrimination.

_How could she have forgotten those were in her backpack? How could she have been so stupid? Ron was always going into it for one thing or another!_

That aside, what gave him the right to brag to them about something like that? To outright lie about it? Didn't he love her? Didn't he respect her?

The answer to those questions was one she really didn't like. Ron was there for her when it really counted, but it seemed like every time he got a chance to rise above himself, it went to his head. He also was not above stepping on everyone around him to get ahead, just as he had when he was trying to secure a position with the school newspaper. He twisted her words, creating a story that was an out and out lie, leading her to be bamboozled into and unwanted date with Brick Flagg. Just thinking of that lumpish oaf, ogling those 'rip-em-off-and-take-me' panties caused her anger to bubble up once more, resulting in a low growl as she climbed the stairs into her loft, slamming and locking the hatch.

_Anything good that happens to Ron and he forgets who he is, what he is, who his friends are and who loves him. It's all about him and his selfish needs. Is that what I am to him, just fulfilling another one of his needs?_

Give the boy money, he's suddenly a snob who can't buy his friends fast enough. Get him a fancy haircut, he's a whole other person. Give him love, he turns it into a notch on his bedpost, just to improve his standing.

_I opened my heart to him in open defiance of what people think of me and this is what he does to me?_

Burying her head in her pillows, Kim wailed as what she thought was the most perfect thing in her life crumbled. The worst of it was that despite all the rage and hurt, she still loved him, still wanted him in her arms. She wanted him to hold her and tell her it was alright. Somehow she also came to the realization that it had not been a lie, that at least she would have had that before Ron fell once more into the trap that was him.

* * *

Ron stood there trying to get his brain to work, trying to figure our what just happened. Brick, Josh and Walter all seemed to disappear once Kim was there. For a moment both lovers stood there frozen in shock, his hands stuck half way through the process of balling the offending garment up after snatching it back. 

Without so much as another word, Kim turned and walked away, her pace quickening with each step, leaving Ron in her wake, trying to force his mind into forming a useful thought, to send him into action to prevent this from getting any worse.

By the time he snapped out of it, she was gone.

The class bell rang, but he couldn't hear it. Barely remembering to recover the Kimmunicator, he ducked into the men's room and closed himself in a stall, uncrumpling the pink garment, trying to figure our what had just happened. Where had these come from? They couldn't be Kim's, despite what the three seniors were assuming. Kim was too…too…prudish. Had one of them managed to plant this in his pocket? That didn't seem likely. Yet how was it the three people who had ever had any kind of relationship, aborted or not, with Kim managed to be there right at that moment. They didn't even travel in the same circles. Jocks, artists and semi-rich snobs didn't mix.

Then it occurred to him. The panties had been snagged on the battery hatch of the Kimmunicator. These hadn't been in his pocket, they had been in Kim's backpack. The slow turning gears of his mind ground through several scenarios, all of which he discarded as completely unlikely. If anyone other than him even made a move toward her backpack, they'd be picking themselves up off the floor. That only left one conclusion.

These really were Kim's.

Feeling like an utter pervert, he looked closely at them, then balled them up, closed his eyes and smelled them. The smelled of soap and lavender. Kim smelled of soap and lavender. Memories of a movie she had made him watch with her about another red-haired girl turning sixteen popped into his head, where the skinny blonde boy managed to get a hold of said redhead's underwear, showing it off to the school.

Realization hit him like a lightning bolt.

He pulled the Kimmunicator out and hit the call button. It took all of two seconds for Wade to appear.

"Ron, are you in a bathroom stall?"

"Ignore that Wade, I need to find Kim."

"Uh, if you've got the Kimmunicator I don't know…"

"Wade, I know you've got me chipped. I figured that out a long time ago. How else would you know how to find me all the time, like Florida and Arizona?"

"Okay, yes, you've got a nano-processor tracking chip."

"And so does Kim, doesn't she?"

Wade looked away from the web-cam for a second, then down at his keyboard. "Yes."

"Does she know about it?"

"No. I've sort of made it seem like the Kimmunicator was the only way I kept track of her."

"Okay, Wade, we'll all talk about this later. Right now I really need to know where she is."

He went to work on his keyboard. "You mean she's not at school with you? Oh, no she's not, it looks like she's at home in her room."

"Thanks Wade." He shut off the comm, thinking it was not a good time to remind the boy that he rocked. If Kim wasn't aware of her own chip, then there were going to have to be long discussions, but this wasn't the time or place for that.

He burst out into the hall at a dead run, shooting past Barkin.

"Stoppable! STOPPABLE!" he raged as Ron hit the front doors.

* * *

Kim always heard the cliché about girls crying themselves to sleep. Now that she was crying that hard she realized that was just impossible. Her head hurt, her eyes were water now more from irritation than from tears and she couldn't breath through her nose. She sat up on the bed to get away from the soaked spot on her pillow, trying to regain some of her composure. 

THUNK! "Ow!" she heard from the hatch. Her anger flaring once more, seeking a chance to leap from her to its next victim, she got up off the bed and unlatched the main entrance to her room. As she suspected, there was Ron, panting like he had just run a marathon and rubbing his noggin where he had run headlong into an unexpectedly closed hatch. The sight would have been hilarious if she hadn't been so angry with him.

She sat back down on her bed, her legs cross, giving him a look that said _explain yourself_.

Ron held up his hand, trying to catch his breath. Apparently he had run all the way from the school. Even a year ago that would have left him passed out only half way. "KP, it wasn't what it looked like. You've got to believe me, I wasn't showing those…that underwear to them. I didn't even know I had it and there they were before I could even realize what it was I was holding. The next thing I knew they were passing it around and I grabbed it back right when you saw me. I swear, Kim, I love you, I'd never do anything like that to you, especially in front of _them_."

Spent, Ron nearly collapsed into Kim's puffy blue chair.

Kim both wanted and needed to believe Ron, yet her emotions would not quite let go of the anger. It wasn't directed so completely at him any longer, some of it was now directed at her, making her question their relationship. It scared her how quickly she had assumed Ron had reverted to one of his false personas. Did she really trust him? Was the love she felt real if she didn't?

"Kim, we've been together for all of ten days now, and the whole time I've been scared to death I was going to do something stupid that would ruin it. I know I can get all big heady when something good happens to me but I swear to you, it hasn't happened and if I have anything to do with it, it's not going to happen this time. I love you too much to let my selfish crap get in the way any more."

She got up off the bed and crossed the room to where he was sitting, taking his hands in hers. She leaned over and kissed him, gently, her mouth staying closed. At least that was how the kiss started. In moments her hands left his as she cradled his head in her hands, passion growing as it burned away the hurt and anger she had been feeling, chasing away the stupidity that was crushing her spirit. This was Ron, her Ron, not the New Ron or Millionaire Ron or Bueno Nacho Ron…her Ron!

She pulled him up from the chair, her lips never leaving his, pulling him across the room, slowly lowering herself on the bed, her hands trailing down his back, further and further down. Kim knew they were alone in the house, and would be for some time. The twins wouldn't get out of school for a couple more hours and her parents wouldn't be home until even later, if her mother could get away from the hospital at all.

Ron was on top of her, his body pressed to hers, kissing her, his hands reaching under her, trying to emulate hers. She wanted this, needed this. She wanted the dream she had to come true, to make up to him for her doubts, for her mistaken anger.

He started kissing her down her neck, just as he had in her dream. "Were you wearing those on our date?" he whispered.

"Yes, Ronnie. For you, only for you." Her fingers started fumbling with his belt buckle, without much luck, considering she had never been in such a position before. She tugged harder and harder, trying to get it undone.

Ron suddenly sat up, letting go of her backside, rolling off and away from her. "Whoa, KP. I…I think we're getting in a little over our heads."

She rolled toward him, kissing him softly, running a hand up inside his shirt. "Please, Ronnie. I want you."

"Kim, no, this isn't right, this isn't us. Ten minutes ago you were mad enough to kill me. This isn't how I want our first time to be."

Sitting back, she halfway pouted "What do you want our first time to be?"

Ron took a deep breath and let it out. Then another. "Kim, much as my body is screaming at me, much as it confirms I really am a loser, I want to wait. I don't know when the time will be right, but it isn't now. KP, we're just sixteen and we've been dating for ten days. I know everyone assumes we've been together like forever but it really has only been that long. We don't know what we're doing."

"But if we love each other this much?"

"Kim, I love you with my whole heart. I want to be with you from now on, but this just isn't right. We've been raised better than this. We're both acting like a couple of monkeys in rut, not rational people. Besides, knowing our luck, you'd be pregnant, right from the start."

Closing her eyes, Kim rolled toward her nightstand, taking a small jewelry box out of the second drawer. She opened it and handed the contents to him.

"I've been taking those since right before I turned fifteen."

"Wha? I thought…uh…you…uh…"

"Ron, I'm still a virgin. Mom put me on those for other reasons. For one, my cycle was all over the place because of all the stuff we do, plus I was starting to have skin problems. Mom also wanted me to be protected in case something…really bad happened on one of our missions."

"Oh. So you mean…if we…you can't…"

"That's right, Ron. The only thing stopping us is, like you said, doing the right thing. Come here."

He leaned back toward her, but instead of a passionate embrace she hugged him tight, putting her chin over his shoulder. "Ronnie, I love you so much. You're so good to me, keeping me grounded. What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Just being you. Plus, the way you kiss sure helps."

She leaned back, smiling at him before planting another one on him. Their passion under control, they both enjoyed spending the early afternoon 'innocently' making out.


	9. Part IX

**_It Finally Happened_: Part IX**

* * *

Tuesday morning began with a meeting in Mr. Barkin's office. The two teens, after much discussion (and quite a few 'aw man's from Ron) decided the best way to deal with what had happened the day before was head on. They described, in excruciating detail, what had occurred at lunch the day before, leaving out only the precise nature of the clothing involved. Said article had already been utterly and totally destroyed, lest its evil do them more harm. Kim had been correct that the assistant Principal and multi-purpose substitute teacher had indeed assumed her leaving had to do with a mission, applying the same logic to Ron when he streaked from the campus.

Ron wanted to let the whole matter drop, but Kim argued that it would be tantamount to abusing a trust. The last thing she wanted was to be prevented from going on a mission simply because someone believed, even for an instant, they were using it as an excuse to get away from their other responsibilities. Of course, the actual activities that accompanied their discussion were also kept private, as well as what had nearly happened.

Kim could not describe the immense relief she felt that Ron at least had the presence of mind to resist the temptation. He was absolutely, totally right that her state of mind, her emotions were still too amped up to make a good, rational decision. What did hurt was that he called himself a loser for not taking advantage of the situation. She made very sure to explain to him, with her words and with her touch, just how much a winner he was that afternoon.

Barkin was pacing in front of his desk, his face its usual scowl, as if it had been cast that way when he reached adulthood, then fired in a kiln, setting it that way forever. Finally he stopped and faced the two teens, dividing his gaze between them. "While I can understand your reactions to yesterday's…event and I respect your honesty, there is still the matter of the two of you leaving school grounds without permission, in your case for personal reasons. That is a serious violation of the policies set forth by the school board. I have no choice but to give both of you detention today after school.

"In the future I would hope at least one of you could at least let somebody on the staff know what is going on, heaven knows, they pay enough for those counselors."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Barkin, it won't happen again." Kim said, ducking the glare of the large man as they beat a hasty retreat from his office, even though the first class they had that day would be under his command.

"Just a moment, Stoppable." Both teens halted. "Possible, why don't you wait for him at class. I will be there for the bell."

They looked at each other, Kim's eyes trying to send some strength over to Ron, knowing the enmity between the teacher and her boyfriend. With a nod from him, she turned and made her way down the hall.

It felt to her like every eye was on her. She had talked with Ron about the possibility that what had happened had gone beyond the three other people involved. After all, Kim had stormed out of the school in a white hot fury, pursued later by Ron. That alone was enough to start all sorts of tongue wagging. If the nature of what had set her off was known, even by a few…no, there was no way something like that would only be known by a few. Something like that would spread like wildfire. The only hope she held out was the lack of any heads up from Monique. If the rumor mill was in overdrive, Mon would know about it.

Would those guys have spread what they saw around? Brick had just been being Brick and he was mostly giving Ron a hard time. He had proven to be genuinely friendly, if not a close friend, ever since the Adrena Lynn incident. She also knew he didn't go much for spreading rumors, probably because he had been the subject of many of them, especially considering his on again, off again relationship with Bonnie Rockwaller.

Bonnie. She would be the real test. She was in Kim's first period class and if anything had gotten out, she would know about it. In fact, she would probably know the minute she walked in the door what the brunette cheerleader knew, based on just how smug she looked. At least she was on the outs with Brick at the moment (and had been since the prom) so that source was cut off for the time being.

She didn't have as good a bead on Walter Nelson. She had probably spoken five words to him in the last three years. For all the mileage the school had gotten from that one kiss, it really was just that, a kiss. He traveled in different circles from her and likely had been pulled into the fracas simply because he was one of the few who were actually associated with her.

Before yesterday she would have never thought of Josh as being capable of doing anything to actually hurt her. Yet what he had said to Ron, it was either the meanest thing she had ever heard from him, or the most bitter. She had no idea he felt that way about their relationship. They really had drifted apart. But was bitterness enough to make an otherwise nice boy like him stoop to spreading rumors?

She would know soon enough. The door to her first class loomed in front of her like a maw. She wished Ron could have been there to face it with her.

Was her reputation as a 'good girl' about to take a hit, perhaps even be shattered? There was only one way to know. Like so many other things, her mother's advice echoed in her mind. It's a pool of cold water. Time to take a deep breath and dive right in.

* * *

"Stoppable, I won't beat around the bush. The improvements you have made this last semester have been nothing short of impressive. I don't know if it's because you want to impress Possible or you've finally decided to wake up and realized the world can be a cruel, heartless place for a slacker like you. Don't know, don't care. What I care about are results. However, you have a lot more to overcome than just this one semester. While I think your grades for this term will be…acceptable, you still have your lamentable first semester to overcome. I have done some calculations and I have come to the conclusion that despite your advances in the last few months, you need to not only pass your finals, you need a B or better in each and every one. In fact, you need an A in geometry. Otherwise you will be faced with one of two things, neither of which would bode well for your budding relationship.

"One, if you under perform in one or two subjects, you will be faced with summer school to earn the credits you need to be promoted. Let me tell you, it will not be pleasant. A full semester's work crammed into six and a half weeks, with all the expectations the state places on the normal class. You will be kissing your summer goodbye.

"Two, if you fail to pass three or more classes for the year, you will have to repeat your Junior year. Now I know you have been promoted despite a string of failures in the past, but earning the right to be a senior, that takes real work, real results. Real grit.

"You've got potential, Stoppable. More potential than most of these hall monkeys, potential that up until recently you have wasted. I would hate to see all of that potential go down the drain. Do we have an understanding?"

"Y...yes sir." He finally squeaked under the big man's glare.

"Good. That took some brass, you coming in here to admit what you did. That shows respect. Now get to class before you're tardy."

"But if you're not there yet how…"

"I said move it, Stoppable."

* * *

Kim's entrance yielded a bit of a reprieve. Bonnie didn't even see her come in, being far to engrossed in a cell phone conversation. She was making the best of the remaining days of the year, as a new policy would take effect when they returned as seniors next year. It seemed there were just too many students like Miss Rockwaller who preferred to jabber away constantly, in class, in the halls, out in the commons. At any given moment perhaps half of the students in view were deep in some conversation with somebody other than whoever was right in front of them. Next fall, that would all be a thing of the past. Talking on a cell phone would be expressly forbidden and those who had one on their person at all would have to leave it turned off. Someone had successfully argued it would be safer for students to still have them in case of an emergency, but that would be the only time it would be allowed. Kim was still waiting for a ruling on her Kimmunicator, though it looked like it would be included in the ban as well.

"No, he's had his chance…I don't care if he apologizes, he is so history, especially after the way he treated me at the prom…no, I don't know, but she was behaving like a brazen hussy and she didn't even come with a date…"

Kim just shook her head as she took her seat next to the leggy brunette. Who was she actually talking to? Most of her posse were other students here, why not talk to them face to face later on instead of wasting valuable air time.

About that time Ron entered, looking white as a sheet. She didn't get the chance to ask him why as Barkin was close on his heels, the man assuming his station at the head of the class precisely as the bell rang. He immediately launched into his lecture. That was how Barkin taught. He may have been gruff, unpleasant and much more like a drill sergeant than an officer (he had at least once referred to himself as a Lieutenant, though in what service nobody seemed to know) he seemed to be well versed in a wide range of topics. Whether any one of those topics actually stuck with his students, only the grade sheets could say.

Ron spent the entire class, jotting down notes as if his life depended on it. Kim tutored him on how to take good notes, but somehow he was going even beyond that. As class ended she got up put a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he started pounding his head on the desk top.

"My life is so over." He said with a moan, the traditional sign that his school career was again overwhelming him."

"It's okay, Ronnie. Come on, tell me on the way to chem. Class." She guided her numb boyfriend out of his seat, catching Bonnie's approach out of the corner of her eye.

"Trouble in paradise, K?"

"Nothing the two of us can't handle, Bonnie."

"Humph. Well, don't get your _panties_ in a bunch. Ta ta!"

Kim turned the same color Ron had.


	10. Part X

**_It Finally Happened_: Part X**

**

* * *

**

Close to two weeks went by with Team Possible functioning at 'Code Red' emergency levels. Missions were put on hold, thoughts of subsequent dates were scrubbed. The importance of their task was simply too high. Even the ticking time bomb that was Bonnie Rockwaller was shoved on the back burner. They had no real idea how much or how little she actually knew, considering, according to Monique's report, most of the school was still trying to figure out what had set off the tiff.

Getting Ron to pass all his finals with a B or better was a tall order, but nothing seemed so insurmountable as the need to ace the Geometry test. It was only through intense tutoring he had pulled out a (barely) passing grade in algebra last year, especially considering the hit his grade took when the teacher found out some of his work had been done by Rufus while his brain was enhanced by the Phoebus Project.

Ron wasn't above calling in a favor for a quick trip to Iowa for his own quick zap from the device. It goes without saying the scowl that brought from Kim would freeze magma.

The difference this time? Ron had all the fundamentals he needed. There was no way of being certain whether it was the onset (finally) of maturity, teaching methods that managed to get through his mind or simply the effect Kim had on him, but his head was nowhere near as empty as it used to be. He finally understood mathematics to a certain degree. However, knowing enough to keep from failing and knowing enough to get an A were two completely different things.

The first order of business was to get him to calm down. Panic was setting it, even with just under two weeks to go. By lunch Ron was well on his way to hyperventilating. It was getting so bad that he was muttering to himself as they left third period. At least it couldn't be too bad, as he was muttering in fluent Latin. It might not have consisted of Salsa dancing, Salsa eating and a project involving Jennifer Lopez, but at least that was one good sign. If only he could bring those new language skills to fore under pressure.

It wasn't looking good. He had to settle down, especially if they were going to effectively prepare. It was too early for the high-powered studying and there were end-of-year projects to work on.

Kim, of course, had completed hers during the week of their grounding.

Ron had actually done some work on his and, by Kim's estimation, it was about sixty to seventy percent complete. It was doable, but only if she could get his head in the game. She needed something to break through to him, to take his mind off the pressure and the fear and put it back on the tasks at hand.

He was so miserable when they walked in to detention together that afternoon he didn't even look at her or offer to hold her hand. He pulled out his notes and poured over them feverishly. That at least seemed to please Barkin, who sat behind his desk wearing a slightly smug look, thinking how well he had done at making the boy apply himself. Kim knew better. Ron may have been trying to study, but nothing would stick. Too much self-doubt was clouding his mind, making him frantic.

Quietly, she got up and spoke with Barkin, who confirmed everything Ron had told her earlier in the day. "He's got a tough road ahead of him, Possible. He's come a long way in a short time, but he's going to have to gut this out if he ever wants to be anything more than just a goofy sidekick for the rest of his life."

"He's not my sidekick, he's my boyfriend, and even that word seems weak to describe how I feel about him now."

"I have to admit, you've been the most positive influence on him I've ever seen, but he's the one who has to come through in the clutch this time. He's got to do this alone if he ever wants to succeed."

"He may have to do this alone the day of the test, but he's not alone and never will be again." She replied as a plan started forming in her mind.

* * *

For some time, Ron's parents had started driving to Denver on Tuesdays. He wasn't sure why, as they never bothered to discuss it with him. They usually didn't return until well after midnight, leaving Ron, as usual, to fend for himself. Normally that meant an evening spent hanging out with Kim at Bueno Nacho or at her house watching satellite with the Tweebs. 

This time, instead, Kim pronounced that they were going to hole up at his house and try to finish all his projects, in order to clear the way for finals preparation. Pizza was ordered (along with an extra pie so they would have enough left to eat after Rufus got done) and, after a quick stop at Kim's house, they got out all the things they would need. They set up in the living room, spreading everything out on the coffee table.

She was impressed with the progress he had made up to that point. The problem was his attitude. He simply stared at his work, not quite knowing how to proceed. His mind simply would not work. Every time he picked up a pen, a book or any of the tools he had laid out he simply froze up. He was so afraid of failing he was setting himself up to do just that.

Kim put a hand on his back, rubbing him gently in small circles. Her fingers glided easily over the light material of his bowling style shirt. She could feel the lumps of his backbone, the wiry muscles of his narrow back. He felt oddly cool to the touch. Probably due to the tension in his body. His whole back was wound up like a coiled spring. She kept up the slight backrub for a good half hour, amusing herself with the sight of Rufus eating twice his body weight in cheese pizza (they were careful to keep the pepperoni away from the little guy. He'd eat it like it was going out of style but it tended to have…unpleasant side effects on him.)

"Ronnie, why don't you take a little break."

"Can't KP. Like you said, we've got to get this done tonight."

"Honey, you're not going to get it done by banging your head on the table."

"Honey? I thought we talked about the nickname thing."

"Sorry, it just came out. Kinda feels natural to say it. Come on, lean back, close your eyes and forget about all this stuff for a moment." She shifted her hand to the small of his back, tracing the top edge of the board shorts he was wearing.

"No, Kim. I'm going to do this. If I can't pull my grades up far enough I'm going to either be kept apart from you for most of the summer or I'm going to be practically separated from you from now on. It's bad enough when we don't have at least half of our classes together and I know it's been extremely badical to have all our classes together this year, but if I'm held back a year we'll never have classes together again. You'll be off to college and I'll still be stuck here, graduating late and working at Bueno Nacho or Smarty Mart or something while you go off to work for GJ or something…"

"Ron, stop. Just stop. I am getting sick and tired of listening to you putting yourself down. Barkin didn't throw all of this at you so you could fail. He did it to warn you, he did it because he doesn't want you to fail any more than I do. He's proud of you and in his own gruff way he's trying to make sure his efforts aren't wasted."

"Gahrrrr." Ron put his hands to his temples, frustrated that he couldn't get his mind to work. "I don't know what's wrong with me, KP, I know I need my head in the game, but it just won't work. I know I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack, but at least I thought I knew how to do this."

"Ronnie, you do know how to do it. You're just too distracted."

"I guess so." He hung his head even lower. "It's probably better if you went on home and left me to this. I guess I can't think straight with you sitting here with me."

"Ron, I think that's the problem. I don't think you _are_ thinking about me. I think you've gotten so wrapped up in the consequences you're not thinking straight." She hooked one finger in the back of his shorts, her free hand coming to rest on his thigh, giving it a light squeeze.

Leaning in, she kissed him on the neck. It was a quick peck at first, followed by a tender nuzzle behind his ear before she returned to his neck, her mouth opening, her tongue tasting his faint saltiness, tracing along the fine hairs. Teeth brushed against his skin, just hard enough to send an electric shudder through his body but gentle enough she would not leave a mark. Her hand traveled up his thigh, dangerously up, her fingers kneading the corded muscles of his quadriceps.

"Kim…I need…"

"Yes, Ron, you need this." She whispered to him, her hand reaching under his shirt, her fingers spreading out on his stomach, running up his chest. Then, grinning at him, she pushed him back on the couch, throwing one leg over his, all the while working on his neck. Her right hand remained pinned behind him as she switched to his lips.

Ron was valiantly trying to struggle, but Kim wouldn't let him up. She was still stronger than him and much more adept at keeping her opponent pinned when she wanted to. Still, he finally was able to pull away from her in order to get a word in edgewise.

"Kim, I like this, but if I don't get the project finished I'm never going to have time to study."

"Ronnie, I never had any intention of working on your project tonight. It's not due until Monday."

"Monday, yeah, but…"

"You said it yourself. Procrastination is one of the few skills you've mastered. I want you to show me how good you are at it."

"That's not what I meant, I…"

"Yes it is. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, only now that you've decided you have to get it done, you're panicking anyway and you want to know why?" She asked, running her hands through his hair.

"Huh?"

"You're panicking because you think you're going to fail." She put her cheek to his, continuing in a whisper. "You're so scared you're going to lose me if you don't do well, it's keeping you from even functioning."

She slid off him and kneeled in front of him, taking his hands. "Ron, I want you to know. I love you. I love you if you have to spend all of our summer in school. I love you if you have to spend another year as a Junior. I love you if you pass everything and we move on together. You are not going to lose me, I swear it. You are too important to me for me to lose everything simply because of a bump in the road like this."

"So all this doesn't matter?"

"It does matter. It matters a whole lot, but not because you're doing this for me or to be with me. You're going to be with me if it takes you five more years to finish high school, so put that thought out of your head for good. You're going to pass those tests. You're going to pass them so well that they're probably going to make you take one or two of them over just to prove you didn't' cheat and you're going to do it because it's what you want, what you need for you. You're almost there. Remember when you called yourself 'Potential boy?' Well, now you're about to become 'Realized Potential Boy.'"

She put her hand behind his head and pulled him to her for another kiss. Slowly she rose, pushing him back on the couch once more, lowering her body over his, straddling his lap as she pulled his hands around her waist. She leaned back slightly, looking at the wistful expression on his face.

It was time for the final stage of her plan for that evening, the reason they stopped at her house first. Reaching down, she grabbed the bottom of her teal t-shirt and pulled it up over her head. Ron gasped and almost averted his eyes at the unexpected move. He never mentioned it to her, but he was usually quite aware that she often went without a certain article of underclothing, depending on what kind of top she was wearing. She wasn't wearing one tonight either. Well, not exactly.

In all their years, Ron had only seen Kim wear one kind of bathing suit – a once piece. He made certain to go to all the swim team meets, mostly so he could see her in those suits. There was something bon-diggity about having a best friend who happened to be a girl…a very beautiful girl who looked badical in a bathing suit.

The bikini top she had on was the same lime green as her favorite tank top. It suited her fair, redhead's complexion. It also showed off more skin than he had ever seen her show. His expression changed from wistfulness to a wide, goofy grin as Kim unbuttoned his shirt. She didn't pull it off, but opened the front before crushing her body against his in a fierce hug.

As it turned out, Kim's plan worked perfectly. Just as she intended, by forcing his mind back to her, he was able to focus once more on the real task at hand. In a fit of productivity, Ron actually did manage to finish his project later that evening, fully enjoying doing the work with a girl wearing a skimpy bikini. He really didn't have that much left to do. They went up to his room to print the final draft of the report that went along with it on his computer, finding his tiny bed a little more comfortable for making out while the printer was busy.

Kim later whispered in his ear what was likely the dirtiest thing she'd ever said to him. "I'm going to make you study hard for the next week."


	11. Part XI

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XI**

* * *

Lake Middleton was normally a place of peace, quiet and tranquility. It was a man-made lake created as a reservoir to provide water for the Tri-City area back during the depression. It had been there long enough it was starting to look like any natural lake, except down near the dam. There was actually a bit of controversy about the actual name of the body of water. During construction of the dam, it was just referred to by the name of the creek that had been dammed up, Beaver Creek. There were still some older folk who called it either Beaver Lake or Beaver Creek Reservoir. It actually was officially given the name of some obscure local politician. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who actually knew that name since almost everyone, including local cartographers had come to call it Lake Middleton. The popular name was finally given a sort of tacit recognition when the surrounding area was designated Lake Middleton State Park and Recreation Area.

Yes, normally it was a nice quiet place for a family or a couple to spend a summer day, either on the beach of sand trucked in from the west coast or in one of the many campgrounds. Couples were known to spend hours on one of the many trails crisscrossing the interior of the park. It had a reputation far more romantic than the bluff at the end of Logging Camp Road.

On the first Friday of June, it was neither quite or peaceful. Hundreds of cars bearing a large portion of the one thousand plus students of Middleton High School and some of their families crowded into the place. It was the traditional party celebrating the end of the school year. Even some of new graduates attended, before beating a hasty trail out of the city for a post-graduation break.

The real stars of the party, however, were the former Juniors. They were the new first order social elite, at least those who held their proper place in the 'food chain.' Like it or not, seniors ruled the school and, upon their return, they would hold court, especially at the coveted "Senior Table" in the caf.

It was a great way for the kids to blow off steam. The final week of school was an intense pressure cooker. The week started off with the last study day. No lessons were planned but students were able to meet with their teachers, ask some final questions. Most took the time to either cram or veg out in the class.

Tuesday through Thursday the final exams were administered. The school took on a deathly still air as hundreds of students sweated it out. There was a faint smell of burning rubber in the air as countless erasers were worn down to their metal bands.

Then Friday came. The school was opened up and the students all filed in, waiting their turn to find out their marks. That usually took a couple hours and, once done, the seniors would make their way home to prepare for graduation ceremonies that afternoon. Everyone else, finally freed from the tedium of the school year, made their way out to the party at Lake Middleton.

The music thundered, the bass turned up so high even the water jumped slightly at the beat. Every so often you could hear someone screaming "Let's get this pah-tay stah-ted!" though it had indeed been going on since early that afternoon. The beach, normally home to maybe half a dozen sunbathers and maybe four or five people in the water, now looked more like Fort Lauderdale during spring break. Hundreds of kids were here, all having fun.

All except for a certain blonde haired young man and a particular pretty redhead. They were there, but neither seemed to be having a very good time.

Ron sat on the hood of his mother's car, his head slumped between his shoulders. It had not been a particularly good day for him, and it had begun fairly early. In fact, he was there at the main doors when they were unlocked at seven thirty. His heart was in his throat as he hit the door to his first class, Kim close on his heels. Barkin was already there, his face like stone giving him no indication whether it would all be good or even if the man already knew his aggregate score (that was a word he had become quite familiar with over the last week and a half.)

"Stoppable, you need to relax or you're going to have a coronary. Congratulations, you got a B. Any other time I'd like to sit down and have a real discussion about some of the ideas you expressed in your essay questions, but in the end that's a good thing. It means you're thinking. Now get out of here so everyone else can see their scores."

Kim, of course, got an A.

Ron didn't relax until they got to chem. class. He actually did almost have a coronary when the teacher showed him his grade. It was something that had never happened before except in Home Economics during their sophomore year, and that class was considered pass/fail since it was an elective.

For the first time ever, Ron Stoppable made an A on a final exam. When his heart started beating again he couldn't contain himself any more.

"BOOYAH!" he shouted before launching into a victory dance.

Then the unimaginable happened. The next class was Latin. The dreaded dead language. The class he insisted they take together because he had mistakenly assumed it was about Latin America.

Ron got his second A mark of the day. What made that even more amazing was that Kim actually made a B on the exam (though her grades for the rest of the term still gave her an A.)

"They should give you a plaque for lunch period for bravery beyond the call of duty for the amount of mystery meat you've put away in there." Kim kidded as they passed the shuttered cafeteria. Ron was too jazzed to even come up with a snappy comeback, instead grabbing her waist for an impromptu hug, eliciting a squeal of protest from the mashed occupant of his pocket.

The morning had started so well. He pulled the computer printout of his grades from his pocket again and sighed. He screwed up and screwed up bad and now he was going to have to live with that. He looked at the crowd, finally catching view of auburn red hair. Kim was sitting at one of the picnic tables with Monique. He was thinking that he really should go over there and talk to her, but he just couldn't work up the courage to do it.

He looked at the slip of paper again, remembering the morning as he went to his fifth and sixth period classes. Bs at both. He passed them. There was only one class left, the one where he had to ace it. None of the other grades he got that day would matter if he didn't get an A in the last class of his school day. Geometry would either be his savior or his doom. Kim held his hand as he walked in the door. The teacher smiled wanly at him as she opened the grade book and showed him the score. Kim's hand tightened on his.

His eyes couldn't focus. He could see Kim's grade clearly, her usual A, but further down the page, toward the end of the Ss, he couldn't bring himself to quite make it out. It wasn't until he realized that Kim was squealing in his ear that the seemingly impossible had happened.

Team Possible had pulled off another mission. Ron Stoppable had not only passed the course, he got something that had never appeared on his record before.

A plus.

Junior year was over. He could now go to the office and pick up his final report and, once out the doors, he would cast off the traditional title of eleventh graders. He would be a (rising) Senior. He passed! He passed the whole grade!

He sat on the hood of the car thinking _I should be celebrating. I should be sitting on the beach slathering sun block all over Kim. We should be sneaking off to the nature trails for some serious making out!_

Instead he was sitting alone in the parking lot, watching everyone else having fun. Instead he was regretting what may have been the whole reason he had done so well this final semester coming to a screeching halt.

In a fit of anger, he had said something that, some four hours ago he would have found unimaginable. It began innocently enough. Kim wanted to celebrate and she wasn't willing to wait for the party to get started either. The kissing started at the school, little quick kisses repeating over and over, PDA policy be damned. They walked back to Kim's house arm in arm, Kim even daring her image (which did happen to weather Bonnie's spike attempt after the underwear incident) by putting her hand in Ron's back pocket. It may have been rather old-fashioned, but it was an excuse to put her hand on his backside on the way home.

The house was empty. Ron was having images of a very nice, extended make-out session, uninterrupted by nosey little brothers who were simultaneously grossed out and intrigued by all the kissing and such, by a mother who seemed to be quite pleased with their relationship as a whole but who still made him uncomfortable when it came witnessing their more physical demonstrations of their love and by a father who seemed to really like him but still couldn't tolerate much more than chaste kissing.

He started to lead Kim to the family room. His favorite place of all to make out was on the couch, especially when they were sure they had the place to themselves. Kim, on the other hand, had other ideas.

"We've got to get ready for the party." She said, giving him a sly look.

"I don't think we have to be in too much of a hurry to go."

"I know, Ronnie, but I'd really like to be ready to go, you know, get out of these hot clothes and into something more comfortable."

"Sure, KP. I've got my trunks in my pack. I'll just be a few…"

She cut him off by taking his hand and pulling him upstairs, almost actually dragging him up to her room by his arm. Moments later she was pushing him down on her bed, kissing him hard. He lost himself in the moment, enjoying the kiss immensely, responding in kind. He liked the feeling of her body pressing against him. He was discovering one of the great benefits of having a girlfriend with a rather modest chest. More of her body could be molded to his, more surface area coming into direct contact.

The only problem? That kind of contact caused an involuntary response, one that Kim couldn't help but notice. She was the love of his life, but certain things were still awk-weird and embarrassing to him.

Too quickly she got up and went over to her dresser. He rolled onto his side, watching as she crouched at the bottom drawer. He leaned over slightly, hoping to catch a glimpse of what she had on under her capris through the ever-present gap in her loose fitting bottoms. She turned to look at him, catching him in the act, yet, instead of turning red as she normally did, she just smiled at him.

"What do you think?" She held up a new bikini set. It wasn't quite as skimpy as the green string bikini she had worn the week before. In fact it covered up quite a bit more, but there was something about it that said 'bad girl' to Ron. He tried picturing it on her. The top was a wrap-around strapless affair in bright blue. The bottoms were a style called 'boy shorts,' though no self-respecting male would be caught dead in them. They were still so small that certain, muscular parts of her anatomy were still going to be on display.

"Badical." Was all he could mutter.

Then she about gave him a heart attack.

Without so much as another word, she slipped her sneakers off and undid her pants, letting them drop to the floor. Ron couldn't pick his jaw up off the bed if he tried.

"Wh…whu…what are you doing, KP?" His mind was trying to get around the concept of her standing there, wearing only her favorite green tank top and a pair of pink cotton panties. He quite literally had seen more of her in her green bikini, but there was something different about seeing her undress like that, without so much as a move to the privacy screen.

"What does it look like? I'm changing into my suit. You should get changed too." She singsonged the last at him, her smile widening. She hooked her thumbs under her top, about to pull it off.

Ron's brain finally kicked into gear. He knew from having his arms around her for much of the day what she did and didn't have on and, much as he liked the thought of seeing Kim, all of her, Ron's inner modesty finally took over. He shielded his eyes and looked away.

"What's wrong, Ronnie." She let go of the shirt and let it drop again. "I'm not ashamed in front of you."

"Kim…I think something is getting out of control and I hate to say it, but I think it's you."

"What?"

"It's like, I…man. Kim, this isn't you."

"Of course it's me. I've been hiding my feelings for you from everyone including myself. I want to be with you and even if I have to wait for that, I still want to show you how proud I am of you."

"No it's not you, Kim!" Sensing she wasn't about to keep undressing for the moment he risked another look at her. "You've always been the sweetest, most innocent girl but here the last couple weeks, I don't know how to say this, but, it's like you're constantly trying to seduce me and somehow, I…I always thought it would be the other way around. It thought that after a couple months I'd get all flustered and you'd be the one who kept me at bay.

"Instead it feels right now like if I said the word we'd be naked under these covers inside of five seconds and I hate to say it, but it makes you look like somebody else to me, and that scares the hell out of me."

"What are you saying, Ron?"

"Kim, I'm saying, well, quite frankly, you're starting to act all slutty. Being sexy is one thing, but I thought being in love was about romance and caring and all that other stuff, not just some rush to see how fast we can have sex. It's like being caught in a hurricane, or worse, in a big fire where everything is big and bright right now, but it's going to burn out eventually because we have nothing left to burn."

"Honey, I just want to be with you, to celebrate…"

"Can you hear yourself? You're not Kim any more! You sound like…like Bonnie, or worse, like those girls who chase the rest of the jocks. You're not my Kim any more. The Kim I fell in love with was a sweet, caring girl."

Kim grabbed her pants from the floor, shielding her body with them, her face turning red. She turned away from him and said, her voice barely a squeak. "Go."

"Kim, we need…"

"Go! Get out, just go, leave!"

"Kim!"

"GET THE HELL OUT!" she screamed.

He left, all feeling rushing out of him.

Their relationship had lasted all of three weeks.


	12. Part XII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XII**

* * *

"I don't even know why I let you talk me into coming here today." Kim said, her knees pulled up to her chest. Instead of the new bikini she had first picked out she was dressed in white tennis shorts and her usual green tank top. She had ridden to the lake with Monique under protest, wanting to wallow in her sorrow at home. The only reason she agreed to come at all was to avoid uncomfortable questions from her parents, at least for a little while.

"Well, for one thing, you still haven't told me what this fight was all about." Monique said, sitting beside her friend on the picnic table, leading back against the top. She was worried. Kim was capable of some strong emotions but she was not usually one to cry, at least not like this.

"What else is there to say. I finally find Mr. Right and I manage to chase him off after just three weeks."

"Whoa there, back up the truck. I thought the two of you just had a little spat and all. What's this 'chasing him away' thing?"

"I just wanted him to be happy, Monique, you know, the kind of things that make guys happy and all. So, I made up my mind that I was ready to take our relationship to a new level."

"You did WHAT? Girl, what did you do? Spill!"

"It's real simple, Mon. My Mom has had me on the pill for a while now, so I figured there's nothing stopping me from doing it and I love him so I was going to…make love to him tonight." Kim got out through fresh sobs.

"Kim, it's not tonight yet. What happened, what did you do?"

"I really didn't get the chance to do anything, all I did was start changing into my suit, just to put on a little show for him, then Ron went all weird on me and said some really awful things to me."

"Ron Stoppable saying awful things? Are you sure that's what happened or was it just his mouth getting ahead of his mind."

"Mon, he called me a slut and said I was just like Bonnie."

There was a moment of almost pure silence. Kim finally turned her puffy eyes to look at her friend, who was staring at her in open mouthed shock.

"Dayum! Are we talking about the same Ron?"

"Yes, he actually said that to me."

"The same Ron who freaked out completely at the thought of you wanting to kiss him just a few months ago, the same Ron who literally ran away from you while you were chasing him? Damn, I would have never thought that the same guy would freak out again just because you suddenly want to jump his bones?"

"How can you take his side on this?

"Who said I was. Maybe I need to go find him and lay a beat-down on him for you. How dare he say that kind of thing to a nice young lady like you, making it seem like you're nothing but a loose little hussy. You are the paragon of womanly virtue, the sweet little girl next door that every young man in the school wanted. How dare he?"

Kim's glare looked like it could cut through stone.

"See? No wonder he's freaked. The Kim he fell in love with, the one he pined for isn't some sex-kitten. She was a sweet, innocent girl who hardly ever kissed anyone, who only kissed a boy for real when she realized how much she was in love with him. Now here in the space of three weeks you've gone from that to wanting to have sex with him? Girl, he's not the only one freaked out about this. Have you taken a look in the mirror lately?"

"Oh, I imagine I'm quite the fright. I don't even have any makeup on and I've been crying for two hours."

"It's a figure of speech Kim. Now, tell me, in his exact words. Did he call you a slut or did he say you were acting slutty?"

"What's the difference? It's still calling me a slut and he said I was like Bonnie."

"The difference is calling you slut says he believes you are having sex with lots of boys. It's a cruel, nasty insult and if he said that, then he deserves a beat-down as much as you do. Now which way did he say it?"

In a tiny voice that barely registered as a whisper she said, "That is was acting all slutty."

Monique nodded, her point starting to sink into her friend. "Okay, points off on Dude-Boy for picking a nasty way of saying it, but he was being honest with you. You were scaring the crap out of him, not just because he's not used to that kind of attention, but because he didn't recognize you any more. Now, why did you want to have sex with him?"

"Mon, it's making love, I…"

"Kim, don't sugarcoat it. Doesn't matter what you call it, it's still sex. Was it because you love him so much and you want to show him?"

"Yes."

"Was it because he's such a manly stud and you wanted him so bad you couldn't stand it."

She took a few moments to answer, "Well, I guess."

"Then there it is."

"There's what?"

"You wanted to knock boots just to seal the deal. You wanted to prove your love to him."

"But I do want him."

"Sure you do, but that's not why you were acting that way. You're just as confused as he is. Kim, there may be a hundred girls who have more experience than you with boys at school. That doesn't mean you are like them or have to be. Sixteen years old for you, and I say this because I truly love you, but you should spend the next few _years_ proving you love him by holding his hand, rubbing his back, kissing him, letting him kiss you. Damn, girl, we're the ones who are supposed to want the foreplay.

"Now about this Bonnie cut? Forget it. It's a cheap shot but it's nothing but air. Bonnie's all bitch and no bite, at least to hear Brick talk about it. You know I went out with him a couple times after the Prom, he's nothing but a big shy sweetie who can throw a football really well. Despite all the rumors she's not a slut after all."

"Bonnie's a prude?"

"The term he used was 'Ice Queen.'"

* * *

Ron was so mired in his dark thoughts he didn't realize the car had sunken on its suspension slightly more than it had under his own weight. His mind just wasn't that aware of his surroundings at the moment. He didn't think to look up until a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He looked up at a gentle looking middle aged man with the long beard wearing a white tank top and jeans cut off at the knee. The attire was so out of character it took him a moment to process exactly who it was.

"Rabbi Katz? What are you doing here?"

"Well, officially I'm here because my daughter just finished her freshman year at Middleton and this is her first Lake Middleton party. Unofficially, it looks like this is where I need to be."

"It's that obvious?"

"What, that a young man who by all accounts likes to have a good time any way he can is instead sitting on his mother's car while everyone else is whooping it up? That the same young man isn't with a certain pretty girl who came to Temple with him last Saturday?"

"Rabbi, somehow I don't think that's going to happen again."

Rabbi Katz nodded. "Fight, huh?"

"Yeah. I really, really screwed up."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not so much…it's kinda private." Ron said, not looking up from his slump.

"Okay. So you think Kimberly won't be coming back to Temple with your family?"

"I don't see that happening now."

"So you broke up?"

"I guess so."

The Rabbi nodded again. "That's too bad. I thought I really saw something there. You know, that wasn't the first time she came with you."

"Yeah, she came sometimes, like my Bar Mitzvah and such. She doesn't know any Hebrew, so the services make her a little uncomfortable."

"That's normal. Shame you've broken up. She's always loved you."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out, but now I think I was wrong about what kind of love it was."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I thought I was 'In Love' with her, at least over the last month or so. Maybe I was just wrong, maybe it's just being a teenager, but now I think it was more like she was my sister and all."

Rabbi Katz thought about that for a moment. "Ronald, a year or two ago I would have agreed with you on that. I know the Possibles, they're good people. They love their kids and I can tell you, they love you. But much as you may have grown up thinking of Kimberly that way, in the end she's not your sister. If you were to fall romantically and sexually…" he stopped as he noticed a change in Ron's expression.

"That's what this is about, isn't it?"

Ron simply nodded in response.

"Ronald, if she's not ready then…"

"No, Rabbi, that's not it at all. I'm the one who's not ready and I think it's disappointing her." He hung his head even lower. "Then today I said some really awful things to her."

"Awful? As in hurtful?"

Ron nodded his ascent again.

"Where the things you said meant to hurt her?"

"I…no…I just needed…"

"Ronald. Were the things you said the truth?"

"Well, yes, but I shouldn't have…"

"Ronald, if it was the truth, then it needed to be said. Honestly is the first foundation of a relationship."

"But what I said?"

"I admit, it sounds like you chose your words very poorly. Don't forget, you still haven't told me what you said, though I think I may have the gist of it."

On the verge of tears, Ron recounted the entire fight, surprisingly still able to repeat anything Kim said verbatim.

"I was right. It was a poor choice of words on your part but still, what you said was your truth, what you were really feeling. I'll tell you what, Ronald. There's something neither one of you said."

"What's that, Rabbi?"

"Neither one of you said 'I'm breaking up with you' or 'it's over.' That was a fight, yes, but I think it's one the two of you had to have. It also proves that both of you are confused, scared and treading unknown waters for the first time in your lives. I know both of you are good, moral kids. I'm not judging what she or you have done, but If the two of you can patch things up, I want you to come talk to me together. There's a good foundation to build on here, but because of the path you've taken, the two of you don't have the tools necessary to build on that."

"Do you really think Kim and I have the kind of chance for, like, forever and all that?"

"Maybe. God only knows about that. You may look back on this in a few years as nothing but being high-school sweethearts. I don't think that will be the case, most kids don't have the history you two do. You've shared a life that's nothing short of intense and remained friends all the way through it. Stuff like that changes a man.

"Just remember, no matter how strong you are, no matter how strong she is, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. There's nothing wrong with needing help. God didn't put us on this Earth to go it alone. He's given you friends like me, friends like Miss Jenkins and Mr. Renton, family. They're all part of the whole that is you, don't forget that and don't discount what they can do for you.

"Now, if I'm not mistaken, I can see a certain pair of young ladies right now. You feel up to talking with her?"

"I guess I need to. Would you come with me?"

"I'd be glad to."

* * *

"Mon, I don't even know if he's ever going to want to talk to me again." Kim slouched out of the fierce hug her friend had just given her.

"Don't speak too soon, girlfriend, cause here he comes with some guy wearing a ZZ-top beard." Monique nodded toward the approaching men.

It took her a moment to realize who Ron was with since she was so used to seeing the Rabbi in dress clothes and a traditional yarmulke.

Ron sat down beside Kim, one leg underneath him so he could face her. There wasn't a trace of his usual goofy smile, his look so forlorn it tore her heart in two.

"I'm sorry." They both said simultaneously.

"Ronald, I think I need to take the yarmulke off and put the chaperone hat back and go see what Phoebe is up to. Remember what I said…come see me after Temple tomorrow."

"I will, Rabbi K. I promise."

Rabbi Katz smiled at him as he set off to look for his young teenage daughter.

"I think I'm going to go find Felix and help him with the grilling." Monique said. As she got up to leave she whispered in Ron's ear. "Boy, if you ever say anything like that to my girl again, you're gonna think Monkey Fist is just a school yard bully, ya dig."

"Uh, sure thing Monique." He squeaked as she left them alone.

"Ron."

"Kim."

They sat there for a long moment, just looking at each other, a look of worry mixed with tenderness on their faces.

Slowly, tentatively they explained themselves to each other, repeating in their own words the advice they had been given that afternoon.

"So when do you think the time will be right, Ron?" She asked, holding his hand gently as they walked alone down a forest path.

"I don't know. I really don't KP. Maybe that's the whole thing. If we knew when it was right then maybe that's the time."

"I think you're right, Ronnie. I just…I wanted to prove to you that I love you."

"KP, you don't have to prove anything. I love you, I know you love me. I don't need any more proof than that."

She stopped him. They were in a clearing several miles away from the party. The lake could still be seen through the trees. She pulled him down on the grass, leaning back on the ground. The deep bass of the party's music drifted over the water. The golden rays of the late afternoon were filtering down through the canopy, giving everything a soft, lustrous glow.

"This is where I was planning for it to happen." Kim said, still holding his hand as he sat beside her.

"It's beautiful. Almost perfect." He said, squeezing her hand gently.

"Almost?"

"Well, like I said, if it was perfect, then it would be the right time."

"Maybe it is the perfect time." She said coyly, running a finger down his bare arm.

"KP!"

"A perfect time to kiss me, you goof."

The later followed the sound of the music back to the party, secure in their knowledge that they were perfectly satisfied to show their love that way. After all, the best was yet to come.


	13. Part XIII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XIII**

* * *

"Ron, I don't get it. There's only one thing out this way so you're not surprising me if we're heading to the Bueno Nacho headquarters." Of that she was certain. There literally wasn't anything else out that lonely stretch of two lane road. How it ever got a highway designation was beyond her.

Kim had 'assumed the position' in Mrs. Stoppable's car the moment they left Middleton and pulled out onto the long highway, loosely snuggling his arm while his free hand rested on her leg. Eventually his mother was going to figure out why he hadn't kept up his protest about taking the old car, but for the moment he was enjoying having Kim snuggled up to his arm. He hoped she was enjoying it herself (she was) since the successful completion of this mission would more than likely mean he could afford his own car, one that, unfortunately, would most likely have bucket seats. It could also mean affording a great many things. College, nicer clothes, real birthday gifts later that summer for Kim...

…small velvet boxes, along with their contents.

They were both dressed in new clothes. Ron had on his new gray slacks and a black dress shirt, a dark red tie setting the whole ensemble off nicely. He even had new shoes, just as nice looking as his older dress shoes, but somewhat more comfortable as they were much better quality. Once word of his finals grades got around to his family, all kinds of small gifts had rolled in, giving him just enough to afford some nice shoes he could actually wear for more than a couple hours at a time. Kim was wearing a black blouse and a businesslike green skirt that was very close to the olive hue of her usual mission cargos. In all, they looked like their usual mission clothes had 'grown up.'

Ron had been the one to suggest the new outfits. He called them their 'dress uniforms' at first but Kim suggested the more solid 'business mission gear.' She was more than a little curious when Ron called to tell her to be ready to leave at nine that Tuesday morning after school ended and to wear the new outfit. The whole point to putting them together was to have something appropriate when one of their actual, 'official' Team Possible missions called for it.

Once they left her house, he did something that frightened her, just a little.

He successfully resisted the PDP.

About half way through the one hundred mile drive he started looking at the sky. "I don't get this, KP." He said, leaning forward to look at the darkening sky. "I thought this was the desert but now it looks like it's gonna rain. The last time we were here it rained."

"Doesn't matter, honey. We're nice and dry in here and we've got an umbrella. It's not like you're going to melt."

"Hey, I'm not the one with the magical instant-dry hair."

"My hair only looks like it dried quick. It really takes hours unless I can towel it off really good and like you care what your hair looks like?"

"Well, no, not unless I've gone all Rondo on it like today, but I've also got these nice new duds. Hey, wait, maybe that blouse is one that gets all see-thru-ey and stuff when it gets wet."

Kim leaned away and gave his shoulder a gentle pop. "You had your chance, buster."

"I still like a little peek-see." He leaned over toward her, leering at her waist. Unfortunately, her skirt didn't gap open like her pants did. She popped him again, catching the look.

"Ron, one of these days I'm going to make good on my threat and let you see everything in all its glory."

"Tough talk KP, wanna put your money where your mouth is?" He waggled one eyebrow. It was supposed to look sinister but as usual it just resulted in giggles.

"Depends on where my mouth is at the time, Bad Boy." She leaned closer and gave his ear a tiny nip, instantly regretting it as the car swerved slightly out of their lane.

Kim closed her eyes and smiled, leaning her head carefully on his shoulder, careful not to mess up his carefully coifed hair. It seemed he was going all out to make an impression, most likely at Bueno Nacho. She hoped it was good news, after all, she missed her favorite hangout almost as much as he did. She sniffed behind his ear, sure she could smell Le Goop, wondering how he could have any left after that silly 'going badder' hairstyle he had worn during the Zorpox caper earlier that year.

Their relationship seemed to be as strong as ever, weathering the bump that had occurred four days earlier. The bad parts of Friday were starting to be just a bad memory. Monique and Ron had been absolutely right. It had all been about 'sealing the deal' as Mon had so eloquently put it. Sure, she wanted to be with Ron and would only ever be with him, but that could and would wait. She even made sure to go see his Rabbi with him that Saturday after he left Temple. Thankfully there wasn't a lot of talk about what specifically had happened. Rabbi Katz said they had moved on past that, though they did have to talk about it between themselves.

She was embarrassed about what had happened, that was for sure, but in hindsight she was thankful it played out the way it did. She was certain that, in the light of day, she would have been ashamed of herself for doing that. It would have flown in the face of everything she thought she stood for, after all, she was the one who had insisted Ron turn himself in with her after they fled the school that day. She had done that to prove that she was not going to abuse a trust.

What she had nearly forced Ron to do would have been just that. Her parents showed both of them a great deal of trust, a trust that would have been broken and she was certain she would not be able to live with that. Then too it was a simple matter of honoring her parents. While her mother made it clear she could make her own decision, her father was completely the opposite. He may be overprotective of her, sometimes prone to drama over it, but he loved her unconditionally and abusing that trust and love would have broken his heart if he ever found out. Not finding out would mean lying to him, probably for some time to come. That was something else she wouldn't know how to live with.

"Ronnie, how about we wait until we turn eighteen?" She whispered as the first heavy raindrops started pelting the car.

"Wait for what."

"It."

"Huh? What are you…oooooooh. I dunno, KP. Kinda feels like we're planning too much out."

"So, how long do you want to wait?"

"Well, maybe eighteen. Maybe until we…uh, well."

Kim sat up, looking at him expectantly. "Come on, Ron, spit it out."

"Well, I was thinking about when we get ma…ma…"

"Uh huh. Sounds like somebody's been thinking an awful lot about a certain 'm' word."

"I, well, you…KP, the way I feel about you, it's not like you're my girlfriend."

"Oh? Then what am I?" She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him a little.

"Well, yeah, of course you're my girlfriend, cause there isn't a really good word for how I feel. You know, kind of like we're ma…ma…well, you know, but we really aren't."

"Um, Okay, I get it, I think."

"Kim, I just can't get my brain around how my heart feels. It's hard to put into words."

"How about this. You can't conceive of a future without both of us in it."

"Um, yeah, that's it."

"…and that means somewhere down the line we're going to get married."

"Uh huh. That."

"Ron, it's okay. I mean, I've thought a lot about that. I can't think of a future without you in it anyway. I used to think it's cause we'd always be tight, but now I realize just how much I need you in my future, and not just as a friend."

"Yeah, KP, it did kind of hurt when you said that to me, especially when you followed it by saying we had to grow up. I was so completely lost in love with you by that point I didn't know what to think any more."

"God I was so ferociously stupid when I said that. Why couldn't I hear how I sounded?"

"KP, let's talk about happier things. You were stupid, I was scared to say what I needed to, end of story, time to go on to anther one."

"Agreed." She snuggled down on his arm again.

The rain started coming down in sheets, drenching the car. It was oddly calm and comfortable in their little pocket, protected from the rain and the wind that raged outside. That was the great thing about the old, heavy cars, they were so smooth out on the open road, no matter what nature threw at them.

"Maybe we shouldn't agree to wait at all." He said finally.

"What? I thought you said…"

"Uh, that didn't come out quite right. What I'm saying is we shouldn't decide about anything until we're old enough to. You're going to be seventeen in a month and a half, and I'll be just a week behind you, that means we only have just over a year to wait anyway. So let's wait until then to make up our minds how long we'll wait. That way it'll be an official adult decision.

"Ron, the way you think sometimes. That's still deciding to wait."

"No…oh, yeah, it is…but that way we're not planning on doing 'it' right when we turn eighteen. We can just play it by ear."

"Oh, I like playing it by ear." She nuzzled he ear again, the car veering just slightly out of its lane.

"Whoa, Kim, concentrating on the old driving here. It's raining pretty hard."

"Yeah, a little too hard. Find a place and pull over. There, that underpass. We'll wait a few minutes until it blows over. Storms like this don't last too long."

They were alone on the long stretch of highway, so there wasn't anyone else to share the underpass with them. By the time he pulled under it the rain was coming down so hard he could barely see the road anyway.

The wipers were barely off when the nuzzling started again. Kim purred ever so slightly, planting 'Eskimo' kisses on his ears and cheek.

"Wow, that's…nice."

"Best way to make out that doesn't mess up my lipstick." She said, giving his hand a good squeeze.

"Maybe it'll rain on the way home." He put his hand on her bare knee.

"Oh, heck with it, there's a reason I have lipstick in my purse." She patted her bag, sitting to her right.

That was just enough jostling to wake her purse's occupant. Dress slacks unfortunately didn't have a pocket to accommodate chubby little naked mole rats, so Kim had taken to carrying a slightly oversized purse when they dressed up. So far it had worked, except once when the Kimmunicator went off. They finally found a solution in keeping the device in Ron's pants pocket while Rufus slept in the purse.

He poked his tiny head out to see what the fuss was about. Much to his chagrin, his humans were mashing their faces together again, a pass time they had undertaken quite a bit over the last few weeks, almost reaching a month. He harrumphed and squeaked "Hrk, Mush" before disappearing back inside, pulling his Kleenex pillow back to his head and dreaming of the giant machine where you could press a single button, dispensing warm, gooey cheese.


	14. Part XIV

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XIV**

**

* * *

**Just as Kim suspected, the worst of the storm passed quickly, but it would not release them completely. A slow, fine drizzle followed the initial thunderstorm, keeping the skies gray and dismal. As they left the shelter of the overpass Ron had to start the defroster, and not because of their brief make-out. The humidity was through the roof and the drop in the outside temperature had the car fogged up in an instant. 

Just before starting out, Kim fussed over Ron just a little, making sure he wasn't wearing any of her makeup now. He squirmed like a five year old being primped by his mother. There were a few smudges – real kiss-proof lipstick had yet to be created – at least where their level of smacking lips was concerned. After a quick touch-up of her own face, they were ready to go again.

The light rain made the going uncomfortable. It was now too cool to run the air-conditioning but too warm to ride without some air moving, yet every time he switched back over to fan, the car would fog up again. The light mist made running with the windows down uncomfortable, especially considering what it was doing to his Le Goop encrusted hairstyle.

The sun was finally breaking through as they approached Bueno Nacho Corporate Headquarters. It certainly looked different in the daylight, with hundreds of cars parked around it. The other thing they noticed for the first time was the small town that surrounded the large building. Everything had a new, quickly assembled look, making them think the town was in response to the company instead of the headquarters being located in some smallish, previously unknown town. That impression was hammered home by the lack of anything designating a name for the small community. Well, corporate big-wigs and their staff had to live somewhere.

The building itself looked just as they remembered it from their nocturnal visit just a few weeks earlier. The main building had been repaired but there was still scaffolding on the exterior of the giant taco shaped tower. Some of the larger openings were still covered in blue plastic tarps.

"Okay, Ron, time to spill. We're all dressed up, we're at Bueno Nacho. What's the sitch?"

"Kim, I've been called to save Bueno Nacho once more from the clutches of the evil Doctor Drakken." He said with dramatic flair, dropping into a mock battle crouch.

"So not the Drama, Ron, they've already announced they're re-opening in two weeks."

"Oh, they can open their doors and they can start filling the tacos, but it takes the Ron-man to make it all happen, to put the Diablo Sauce on the Chimirito, to put the cheese on the nacho, to put the chips in the Naco!"

"Don't tell me we came all the way out here for you to get your old job as assistant manager back?"

"No Kim, it's bigger than that! They want me in their new commercial!"

"They want you? In their commercial?" Kim tried to stifle a giggle but failed.

"Hey! What's so funny about that?" He asked as they walked in the front doors of the complex.

"Oh, nothing, just thinking how odd it is to be using the front door instead of grappling onto the roof."

"Uh huh." Ron replied, not the least bit convinced and more than a little miffed.

The place looked totally different inside during the day. What had looked like huge, cavernous open space in the dark looked far smaller in the light of day with dozens, perhaps hundreds of people milling about. It had the look of a busy bee-hive, men and women, many in business suits, just as many wearing the orange shirts of management milling about, making the various and sundry preparations for the grand re-launching of the company.

Drakken's hostile take-over of the fast foot juggernaut had been fodder for the scandal sheets for weeks now. It seemed the whole thing had been smoke and mirrors with financial backers disappearing like a morning fog under a hot sun as federal regulators swooped in. The mad scientist had gutted the personnel of the headquarters, leaving the building virtually empty as his new lair. Once the truth was known, many of the old employees were recalled in a desperate attempt to get their restaurants back open and to dig themselves out of the mess left by the Lil Diablo fiasco.

The coverage was full of legal mumbo-jumbo but the upshot was that, in two weeks a select few restaurants would reopen under the hastily reorganized company, one of those locations being a smaller spot in Middleton known to the company at large as restaurant number Five Eighty Two. It helped that the particular building had been refurbished (actually rebuilt) a couple times in the last few years.

Having the roof ripped off with a gravatomic beam or side-swiped by a dino-thingy tend to make such work necessary.

"Feel that KP? It's the pulse of the very lifeblood of Tex-Mex fast food!"

"Feels more like arteries getting more and more clogged with cholesterol if you ask me." She said, crossing her arms.

"Cheese is the manna of life, isn't that right Rufus?"

"Hrk, Uh Huh!" He squeaked, riding on Ron's shoulder after abandoning Kim's purse.

It only took them a couple moments to realized they had no idea where they were going. Before they made their entrance upstairs, the battle with the sumo-ninja and Shego taking place inside the Taco Tower. Fortunately, like any corporate complex, there was a reception desk, curiously manned by a familiar face.

"Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible! We've been waiting for you. Take a seat and they'll be right down to see you in just a few."

"Hey, didn't you use to work for Jack Hench?" Ron asked the slight platinum blonde man.

"I sure did. He had to let a lot of us go since business was getting so tight, but he gave me a stellar letter of recommendation."

"You didn't get laid off because of us, did you?" Kim asked.

"Mmmm, partly, but that's okay. Part of working for a company who supplies super-villains, enough of them get rounded up and Mister Hench got himself into a bind. So how have things been for you?"

"Great. Better than great." Kim said, taking Ron's hand.

"Oh, that's just super. I thought you kids looked great together."

A graying, slender man in a nice, but plain looking suit came down the hall towards them. "Mister Stoppable, I'm so glad you could finally make it." His accent was vaguely reminiscent of the Seniors, but his features made it seem more likely he was of Mexican descent than Spanish.

Still hand-in-hand, they got up to follow the man.

"Oh, Miss Possible, this is going to be a private meeting. If you wouldn't mind."

"Oh, sure." She said, casting a worried look at her boyfriend. If he noticed it, he didn't show it. He was still walking on a cloud, reveling in his soon-to-be stardom as the savior of the fast food giant.

"If you need anything at all, just let the fellow at the desk know. This shouldn't be long."

"Of course. I'll be…right here." She waved slightly as the two men left. Waiting until they turned a corner, she sat back down, feeling out of place with everyone bustling around her. With nothing better to do she reached into her purse, hoping to watch some streaming video on her Kimmunicator. About the time her hand closed on the fluffed Kleenex package she realized it was still in Ron's pocket. Hopefully it wouldn't go off while he was in his meeting.

Why did they just want him? Weren't the two of them involved in this together? Wasn't Ron part of the whole? It was starting to bother her that she'd gotten all dressed up for this, only to have to sit in the public waiting area, just like she had done as a little girl when her father took her to business meetings. At least then she had Ron with her most of the time to keep her company.

She watched the fellow at the desk. The last time she had seen him, she took advantage of his pleasant and helpful nature in order to discover the true nature of his former employer. She wondered for a moment if the young man had gotten in trouble for that. After all, she used his absence to bypass the reception area and literally tried to break into the inner depths of Henchco. Maybe he was just professional enough not to let any hard feelings show, at least here. She did notice the fact he wouldn't look at her now that Ron had left for whatever it was he was here to discuss.

Her arms remained crossed as she sat back in her seat, a slight pout forming on her lips. The headquarters had been back in full swing for such a short time no new magazines had accumulated in the lobby. There was a woman's fashion magazine there that had to be three months old. _So last season!_

Yet, it wasn't the first signs of boredom that bothered her. It was the fact she was being left out of something Ron was doing. Only, this time she knew she was feeling that way, and it was making her ashamed. Sure he could get big-headed about things, especially when people were singing his praises, that was just Ron being Ron. Except, every time that happened, she started getting threatened by it and that was…

…Kim being Kim.

She buried her face in her hands, rubbing her temples. Ron was better at some things and yes, he tended to go all goon when that happened, but instead of trying to keep his feet on the ground and supporting him, she tried to either get away or to shuffle it aside. She didn't want to feel that way, she didn't want to be threatened by his success. This was something he was good at and something he had earned.

Kim still wanted to be with him though. She wanted to share everything with him now.

Her reverie was broken as she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. Or, more precisely, standing above the crowd. With a smile she jumped out of her seat, trying to catch up to the tall, dark-haired man.

* * *

Ron watched, awestruck as the video came to a close. "Dude, that is like, so cool."

"We thought you might like it, Mr. Stoppable…"

"Ron, just call me Ron. I, mean, like, that was all me?"

"Yes, we spliced the security camera footage of your fight with Doctor Drakken in with clips we acquired from _American Starmaker_."

"Man, I didn't have any idea how badical I looked when I took down old Blue Boy. Booyah! And that was so cool how you remixed the _Naked Mole Rap_ like that. So, when do we shoot this new commercial?"

"Mister Stoppable…Ron, that_ was_ the new commercial." The elder executive said.

"Wait a minute. I thought you needed me to do a new one and if that was it, where was KP?"

"KP?"

"Kim. You know, my girlfriend. She was the one who did all the really big stuff that night, not me." A lot of the joy was starting to drain from his face.

"We're incredibly grateful for what she did, but this is about selling our restaurants, about proving we've been saved from Doctor Drakken, and it was you who did that. You're the one who invented our best selling item ever." He pointed his remote at the plasma TV again, replaying the thirty second spot. "I'm afraid all we had of Miss Possible was her destroying the tower by kicking Drakken's henchwoman into it. Not exactly what we had in mind for selling Nacos."

"But…but maybe we could shoot something new. I mean, she was in the video for _The Naked Mole Rap."_

"Son, listen to what these men have to say."

Ron's head whipped around as he recognized the voice. His father was just coming in the door, flanked by a tall man in a very expensive looking suit.

"Dad? I thought you and Mom were in Denver."

"Mom's downstairs. We've been going to Denver to meet with Mister Howe here." He indicated the briefcase toting man as they sat down at the conference table beside him.

"Mister Stoppable, I'm George Howe. Your father has retained me to represent you in these negotiations."

"Negotiations? I thought I was here to star in a commercial."

"Son, that's why we're here. You can't just show up and make a spot like that. There are lots of legal concerns involved here. We've got, of course, your best interests at heart here."

The meeting, at least from Ron's point of view, went downhill from there. The lawyer and the executives launched into a lengthy discussion involving a lot of numbers that didn't make any sense to him, speaking of percentages, rights and all such, every bit of which went right over his head. All save one final point."

"Of course, all of this will be put into a trust until my client's twenty first birthday."

"What?" Ron blurted finally. "You mean I won't be getting any of this money for more than four years?"

"Son, after what happened with the first royalties settlement you got, I don't really think it would be wise to give you access to that kind of money again."

"It's not exactly that kind of money this time around." The lawyer explained. "But if it's invested wisely, you should have plenty for college and still have a nice nest-egg left when you graduate."

"But what about a car, and stuff for Kim, and a ri…" He stopped himself even as he was rising out of his seat, catching his father's expression.

"That's exactly why I'm accepting their proposal like this, Ronald." His father said, motioning for his son to sit back down. "It's for your own good."

"Aw man. This is so not what I thought all this was going to be about. I've been completely tapped out with all the stuff I've had to pay for."

"Exactly. I know that date with Kimberly was expensive, as was that cruise the two of you took back in April."

"That was for a mission."

"I know, but if you kept up like this, even this money will be gone long before you even finish your Senior year, if not quicker. Trust me, Son, it's better this way."

"If you say so." Ron leaned his chin on one hand, dropping into full sulk mode.

* * *

"So, you're telling me the whole 'special procedures' thing you mentioned in Go City was nothing more than a red carpet treatment?" Kim asked as she chatted with the large man.

"Mostly. It was still meant to keep him reigned in just a bit. I never got the chance to implement any of the procedures since that's when Aviarius decided to attack."

"So, Hego, have you heard from your sister since she was arrested?"

They were both leaning on a rail, overlooking the main floor of the central building. It seemed the Grande Bueno Nacho in Go City was going to be one of the first locations re-opening.

"Not a word. I tried to go visit her but she wouldn't see me. I was hoping I would be able to go see the trial, but work is keeping me tied up."

"What about the team?"

"We're partially back up and running, though Mego is still squabbling about me being the team leader and the twins are quite a handful."

"I know what you mean, my little brothers are twins."

"KP?"

Ron looked like he had shrunken half a foot since going into the meeting. "Oh, hi Hego." He said half-heartedly.

"Ron, what's wrong."

"Nothing Kim. I'm the big Naco-boy. Woo hoo."

"I've seen the spot they're going to run, congratulations Ron." The big man said, pumping his hand.

"Yeah. I'm the big time commercial guy now."

"I hope you'll be able to come back to Go-City for the Grande-Re-Opening. We redid our focus groups and you'll be glad to hear we've added the Naco to our menu!" Hego said with a wide grin, totally missing Ron's demeanor.

"Great. Hope that goes well for you." He took Kim by the hand, pulling her toward the stairs. "Come on, let's go home Kim."

She let him lead her away, desperate to know what had him in such a funk.


	15. Part XV

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XV

* * *

**

Not long after the twins were born, Kim's father finished part of the attic into a loft, freeing up her old room for the boys so they could be closer to their mother when they were tiny and (in theory) give her some privacy when she got older, considering she was four and half years older than them. In practice, it seemed more like a highway sometimes, with the remaining attic being accessed by a hall running along one side of her room and an open stairwell in the center of the room with a hatch that was almost never closed. In hindsight it was likely her 'open hatch policy' that led her parents to trust Ron to be up there with her so much.

Of late, she had taken to closing it when she came home, partly because she spent a good deal more time taking care of how she looked, but for the simple fact that, having a steady boyfriend for the first time in her life, she wanted a little more actual privacy. There wasn't anything dirty or perverse about it, but she found herself wanting just a little more time to be alone, with time to think or to daydream.

Kim wasn't daydreaming that afternoon sprawled out on her bed. She didn't even think to change out of her olive and black dressy clothes, she just lay there, puzzling out what may have happened. It really wasn't like him to mope like that, not when it came to Tex-Mex food. Like he said, it was the manna of life for him. Had they told him the company was folding anyway? That didn't seem likely, considering the overall mood of the staff at the headquarters. Plus Hego said it himself, his restaurant in Go City was part of the relaunch. Companies shutting down didn't spend so much energy on a lost cause, did they?

She was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't hear her mother get home early by at least two hours. Kim nearly jumped out of her skin when she entered through the attic hall door, carrying a basket of freshly laundered clothes.

"Kimmie, you're not out with Ron?" she asked, sorting the folded clothes from the hanging, laying it out so Kim could put it away later.

"No, Mom, he just wanted to go home after we got back from Bueno Nacho." She rolled onto her back, propping herself up with her elbows.

"Bueno Nacho? I thought they were still closed."

"We drove to the headquarters. I think he was thinking he had some kind of surprise for me, but we were there for about an hour and he just up and wanted to come home."

"Was he upset?" She set the empty basket on the floor and sat on the foot of her daughter's bed.

"Ferociously, but he wouldn't talk to me about it."

It was becoming clear to Anne that Ron's mood had rubbed off on her. "That's a really long drive for him not to say anything."

"Tell me about it. He was so out of it I made him give me the keys and I drove back."

"Wow, and that didn't scare the truth out of him?"

"Mom!"

She smiled, knowing Kim hated digs about her 'heavy handed' driving skills. "Well, he'll come around. If it's so bad he doesn't want to talk to you about it, that means he's got to sort it out for himself first."

"But I hate it when he gets like this. Mom, if he feels for me half the way I do about him, how could he keep something from me?"

"Because, no matter how much you love him, no matter how much he loves you, you're still two different people. Besides, look how long it took him to tell you how he feels about you. I'm sure this isn't as important as that. Give him some time, maybe give him some room, just for a couple days."

"But what if he needs my help?"

"If he needs it bad enough, you'll know it. Either he'll ask or your instincts will take over before it gets out of control."

"My instincts tell me he needs my help right now." Kim rolled onto her side, her eyes remaining downcast.

"I don't think those are your instincts, dear. I think that's your 'mother hen' attitude getting in the way. After all, you know what's best for him, even if he doesn't."

"Mom! How long are you going to hold _that_ over my head?" She rolled onto her stomach and started pounding her forehead on a pillow.

"Oh, until you figure it out. You know what might be _good_ for him, but sometimes what's best for him he'll have to figure out on his own. Take it from me, honey, sometimes men need gentle guidance, not just commands from on high."

"I don't 'command from on high' Mom. Ron just needs help sometimes."

"Sometimes, but that's where the gentle approach comes in. Look at the good things that have happened to him lately. It all comes about when he figures something out and acts on it for himself. Do you know how hard it was to keep from pushing the two of you together? My heart was breaking for him when you were going out with Erik, but if I said something, either you would have resented it or he would have run back behind the wall he built around his feelings. He's the one who figured out that the way he felt for you was more important than the risks.

"Kimmie, I know you love him but along with love, you have to have respect. Right now he's hurting and you want to go to him and kiss it and make it all better. If you do that, all you are doing is putting a band-aid on a scratch without cleaning it first. It feels better for a while, until it gets infected.

"Besides, this doesn't sound anywhere as serious as the blow-up the two of you had last week."

"How did?" Kim blushed crimson.

"Dear, we may not be cool, but we're not dumb. Plus, other people notice you two. You're lucky you haven't been on the front page of the scandal rags. As it is, other kids talk, their parents listen, then they talk. Things get around. Now, I don't pretend to know what Earth-shattering event caused your tiff, but when the two of you show up separately for the big lake party and have to be pushed back together by not only your friends, but Ron's Rabbi? Puh-lease. The only thing that bothers me, besides the fact you didn't come to me or your Dad about it, is that some people are whispering that he might have tried to go too far with you and that caused the blowout."

"No, Mom, it wasn't…like that." Kim bit her lower lip, wondering how much further her mother wanted to pursue that line of thought.

"I wouldn't begin to think it was like that. Ron is too good, but you have to remember, people talk and sometimes it can be hurtful, very, very hurtful, so you have to be aware of how things look to other people. Anyway, give him some space for a couple days. Don't press the issue unless you have to."

"I just don't like being apart from him like this. How am I supposed to know if he needs me if I'm not with him."

"Honey, you can't spend every waking minute with him. There are going to come times when the two of you have to spend not just some time, but some great distance apart. That's when you have to really love and respect him, to know that no matter whether the two of you can be together at the time.

"Besides, giving him space doesn't mean you can't be with him. Why don't you change into something a little more your style and go over and see him. I think he might appreciate that. He might even be a little upset with himself for keeping you out today."

"Thanks Mom, you rock."

"Don't let that get out, or they might take away my parent's license." She said, retrieving the laundry basket.

Kim lay on her stomach, watching the door for a few minutes, digesting what her mother said. Yet, she just couldn't shake the feeling that she really had to do something. It also really bugged her that she really didn't know what had actually happened. Something that fundamental that Ron cared about was out of sorts and if it was hurting him, it was hurting her.

As she changed into her white shorts and a cropped sky blue t-shirt she started formulating a plan. Oh, it wouldn't go into effect today, not unless more drastic measures were called for, but by tomorrow her Ron would either tell her what was bothering him or would completely forget about it.

Slipping on a pair of sport sandals, she trotted downstairs, heading for Ron's house at a light jog.

* * *

Ron sat at his desk in his boxer shorts, his dress shirt unbuttoned and his tie hanging limply around his neck. He listlessly played with a tiny plastic keychain shaped like a Naco attached to a lanyard. The only keys on the end were to his house and one for Kim's. He felt a golden glow when her father entrusted it to him when the missions had started getting really serious. It really was just for convenience's sake, but it was still a strong indication of the trust the elder Possible had in him, all joking about black holes aside. 

Yet here, in his own home, with his own family he had to actually ask to borrow a set of keys for the two cars. He had no illusions about his driving skills, being all too aware of just how hard it was for him to even get his learner's permit. Still, it would be nice to know they could trust him enough to have keys to at least one of the cars.

No, they didn't trust him. What's more, they couldn't trust him with the knowledge they were working to ensure his stake in the new Bueno Nacho. The things he had learned in that meeting were, to say the least, hurtful. He had gone in there, thinking they really wanted him, just him to help put the company back on its feet. Instead he found out that his parents had been meeting regularly with an attorney trying to start a lawsuit against the flailing company.

There were a whole hosts of reasons Gene Stoppable wanted to take the fast food giant to court. He had been harboring a dislike for the chain since the time Ron had hired on part time. For one, he was only fifteen at the time, only a by a couple months at that. Next thing he knew, his son was the assistant manager of the restaurant, a position that should have gone to an adult, not just a child who shouldn't have been given a job like that in the first place. Child labor laws had either been bent or broken.

Then there was the whole issue of the Naco royalties. The company had for the longest time been saying it wasn't so much a royalty, but a settlement, a payoff, if you will, for the invention. His lawyer found that wasn't the case. Instead, it was discovered that the funds were being diverted for some time into a special account. It didn't take long to figure out who was in control of that account.

The whole deal that had been presented to Ron today was merely a formality. The commercial, the resumption of royalty checks, all of that had been decided on and signed for by his parents long before he arrived at the headquarters that morning. What started off as a chance to finally have a little of the limelight for himself turned into another slap in the face. Yes, he could agree that he was still legally a minor and his parents were the ones who had to agree to all of this, but how could they have done all of this behind his back without so much as a mention? Why couldn't they have asked him?

He looked at his keychain again. _I can be on a supersonic jet inside of an hour. I can be alone on a boat, approaching a Caribbean island by just after sundown, yet I can't drive across town? I don't have a car, heck, I don't even have the money to get another scooter!_

They weren't even home for him to confront about it. They were planning to ride back to Denver with that slick big-city lawyer and be home later that evening. That left him to stew at home with only Rufus to lend a sympathetic (if hard to see) ear.

Ron was also getting more and more upset with himself for not telling Kim what had happened. Why did he do that? Why did he clam up? Lord in heaven if anyone knew when he was upset it was her! Finally he couldn't take it any more. He picked up his cell and hit one. He could almost imagine hearing the familiar BEEP BEEP DE BEEP of the Kimmunicator.

It rang once more. This time he realized he was not imagining he was hearing it. The familiar beeps were coming from right outside his bedroom door.

"Ron, are you decent?" Kim's voice made his heart leap.

"Um, gimme a sec, KP." He grabbed a pair of swimming trunks and slipped them on, not bothering with his shirt. "Okay!"

Kim walked in, her face a mask of concern. Moments later she had him in a crushing hug. She gave him a quick, gentle kiss, then let him sit back down. She sat on the floor in front of him, her legs crossed, looking at him expectantly, lovingly."

"Kim, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Ronnie."

"Can I be trusted?"

* * *

**To Be Continued!**


	16. Part XVI

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XVI**

* * *

"Kim, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Ronnie."

"Can I be trusted?"

Kim blinked twice, not knowing even how to begin to answer such a simple sounding, yet incredibly complex question.

"Oh." He said, letting go of her hands, misinterpreting her hesitation.

"No, Ron…I mean yes. Hell yes you can be trusted." She grabbed his hands again, holding them tight as he tried to pull away. "Ron, stop it, hold still and listen to me." She fixed him with her eyes.

There was hurt and fear in those chocolate brown eyes.

"Listen, that's something that's a whole lot more complicated than the answer to 'do I love you?' would be. If you'd asked that I'd have said yes before you could close your mouth, but there's a whole lot more to trust than just that.

"Can I trust you with my life, absolutely yes. Can I trust you to come through when it's vitally important, yes, but there are things, some little and some important that, frankly, you could stand some improvement in.

"For one thing, can I trust you not to eat junk food? No. Can I trust your driving? Sometimes, though not if you get the tiniest bit distracted. See, Ron, there are lots of different levels and kinds of trust."

"Well, it's nice to know somebody does." He finally let go of her hands and leaned on his desk putting his head on his arms.

Kim got up from the floor and made to sit on the edge of his desk, giving up when the cheap particle board creaked alarmingly even under her slight weight. Instead she put her arm around his shoulders and gave him a firm squeeze. He sniffed slightly and rolled his head to the side, looking at her. Tears were starting to well in his eyes.

"Aren't you going to ask me again what's wrong?" his voice cracked as little drops of moisture started rolling down between his freckles.

"No, Ronnie. I trust you. I trust you and I love you and I know that when you're ready you'll tell me." She let go of his shoulder and sat back down on the floor, resting one hand on his lap as he sobbed into his arms.

They both sat like that for about thirty minutes, Kim gently rubbing his leg as he cried, fighting her own inclination to beg him to tell her anyway, doing her best to heed her mother's advice. Finally he pushed away from the desk and all but collapsed onto the floor in front of her, wrapping his arms around her shoulder.

"Kim, my parents don't trust me, they…" He choked up a bit again, continuing with some difficulty, "…they went behind my back and set up the whole deal with Bueno Nacho."

"What deal? You never even told me why we went there."

He let go of her, sitting back, leaning his weight on the legs of his desk and told her about the message from Ned and the meeting it led to. Kim pulled her legs up to her chest and listened while he explained the whole thing, the commercial, the royalties and then about the trust fund. He went on to tell her about wishing for a car, to buy all sorts of nice things for her, though he didn't go so far as to tell her about the nicest thing he wanted to buy for her with the money.

Kim pursed her lips, thinking carefully about what to say to him. "Ron, I hate to say this, but, overall, I have to agree with your parents about this. I think they were ferociously wrong about doing it behind your back, but, from their point of view, the only time you had any real money to your name you lost all of it, and, let me tell you, that was more money than I've ever seen in my life, more money than I could ever dream of you having."

"So you really don't trust me either? See, I knew it. I'm just a loser."

"RON! I don't want to ever hear you use that word about you ever again. I didn't give my heart to a loser. You did something that was…stupid and this is one of the consequences of it. You're going to have to live with that. I told you that trust is a really complicated thing and you aren't just given trust, you have to earn it sometimes.

"Just listen to what you wanted to do. You wanted to run right out and buy a whole bunch of nice things. It's sweet you wanted to get me nice presents, but that's not why I'm with you. You had to learn a whole lot to do as well as you did this year in school and by the same token you have to learn how to handle things like money. That means using it wisely and so far the only example you've given everyone was completely the opposite. Yes, you might need your own car. I'd like one myself, but I don't have the money to do that. It's going to take time and patience, but I'm sure you can save enough. You said you're going to get an allowance from the trust once the money starts coming in, well, prove to them you can manage it. Save it, put it away and once there's enough, go out and buy you a used car, or even another scooter. How long would that take? I miss riding around with you on one."

Ron slumped over to the side. Kim caught hold of him and guided his head into her lap, playing with his hair. "I guess you're right, KP, but I feel so…I feel like I'm being treated like a baby. Right now, every time I think of my parents, I get this feeling they're doing so much to me, to my life that I don't even know about. I even get this weird feeling they would do something terrible like moving away and not telling me. I'm afraid they might do something that would pull us apart forever."

"Ronnie." She leaned over and gently kissed his cheek. "I love you and whether I can be with you every day of the week or I just get to see you every once and a while I'm still going to love you. We've been together for most of our lives, a little bit of distance isn't going to change how I feel about you and what we're about."

Gently she got up, raising Ron along with her and guided him toward his bed, throwing the clothes piled there on the floor. She sat him down and joined him, kissing him warmly and tenderly, still brushing away the remnants of his tears. He started responding, giving in to the kiss, then joining in as she pushed him down onto his back.

"Uh, Kim, I don't think…"

"Shhhhh. Trust me."

"O…kay."

Kim slipped the dress shirt off his shoulders then pulled it free of his arms after unbuttoning the cuffs. She put her hands on his chest, then leaned in for another quick kiss. He looked almost frightened, not knowing what she intended. Hadn't they discussed this…at length? The thoughts running through his head were, to say the least, pleasant. Even though they had decided to wait for it, he was, after all, a normal, healthy young man and along with that came fantasies. It looked to him like one of those fantasies was about to come true and that both excited him and frightened him.

_Trust me_, she had said. Boundaries had been set, boundaries they wouldn't cross, at least not yet.

She made him turn over, onto his stomach, his arms splayed out to the sides. Curling her legs up under her, she put her hands on his back and gently rubbed him. It was not a massage but gentle touching, her hands barely in contact with his skin, ruffling the fine, fair hairs growing there. She took her time, delicately exploring every nook and cranny of his narrow physique, careful to keep the touch tender and not tickling. Years of experience told her where he was sensitive that way, yet with patience she was able to glide over those places, pretending the warmth of her palms left a mark and she would not stop until she had covered every square centimeter between his neck and the waist of his shorts.

When she was done she gripped the muscles at the back of his neck, rubbing them more deeply. There was still tension there, so she slowly kneaded them. This she had done for him before, often in return for the same treatment from his large hands. It almost seemed a shame they couldn't both do this at the same time.

"Not going to sleep on me there are you, Rondo?" She whispered in his ear, simultaneously rubbing the tip of her nose on the outer rim.

"And miss this? No way."

"Good, wouldn't want to have to resort to less…delicate measures?" to illustrate her point, she gripped his almost non-existent 'love-handles.'

"Whoa! Tickles!"

Smiling in satisfaction, Kim went back to delicately swirling her hands over his back, every so often finding a knotted muscle and leaning in on it a little harder. Before long she was rubbing his whole back, finally finishing with a little pat to his backside.

"What do you think, baby?"

"Wow, I don't think I can move now."

"Oh, and what if I want a turn."

"Uh, I don't think turning over would be a really good idea right now." He turned his head and smirked.

"Hmph." She mock pouted, crossing her arms.

"Stopping isn't going to help, not with your butt still pressed up to my side like that."

"Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but here goes."

"Wha…"

"Close your eyes."

"Huh?"

"Just close your eyes."

"Okay, they're closed."

"Okay, now pretend that was, uh, Shego giving you a backrub."

He opened his eyes, grinning almost wickedly. "That's so not helping, KP. She might be wicked bad but, well, she's wicked bad!"

"Hmm, bad example then. Okay, pretend it's…oh, this is just evil."

"No! Don't say it Kim!"

"DNAmy."

"Arrgh! You got me" He rolled onto his side and, before she could react, wrapped his arms around her waist, tickling her bare tummy furiously.

"RON! STOP! CUT IT OUT!" she squealed. Finally he let her go, causing her to slip off the edge of the bed, landing on her butt.

"Ow." She huffed, not really hurt but milking the sitch. She crossed her arms on the edge of the bed, propping her head there. "Feeling better, Honey?"

"A little. I guess I'm still really bummed about what they did."

"You're going to have to talk to them about it and I don't mean jump on their case either. I mean sit down and have a man to parent talk with them. Be up front and honest about how this hurt you, but don't go in angry about it. That'll go a long way to proving to them you can eventually be trusted with it."

Pulling herself back up, she leaned over and kissed him again. He pulled her close, holding her tightly, pent up passion from the incredibly sensual backrub taking hold again. For a few minutes both of them got lost in the kiss and embrace until it was finally Kim who pulled away.

"Come on, get up there, Honey."

"What is it with you calling me Honey all the time? It's so…Mom and Dad."

"I don't know, it just kind of happens. I could call you my sweetie-poo or my snuggie-bunch or something." She cooed in a saccharine voice.

"Okay, you win, Honey it is, but please, not in front of our friends."

"Deal. Now get up and get dressed."

"Um, well, hand me a shirt." He pointed at the pile she had raked off the bed.

"We're not going out in swimming trunks. Tell you what, I'll go downstairs so you can properly change and we'll go hang out at the mall."

"Mmm, sounds like a date."

Kim stuck her nose in the air. "No, Mister Stoppable, it's hanging out. Tomorrow we are going to have a proper and official date."

"Yes ma'am. I am here to serve you." He gave her the best mock bow he could execute from a sitting position. "And where exactly does the ma'am expect to be taken on this date?"

"There is a new restaurant opening tomorrow night and I expect the best table in the place. You will pick me up at seven and I will show you where we must go."

"By your command." He started to bow again but switched to a grab at her waist. She sidestepped nicely, sending him piling into the floor this time.

"Get dressed, Ronnie. I'm ready for some snackage." She said as she closed the door.

She slowly walked down the stairs, the wheels turning in her head as she made plans for their date.


	17. Part XVII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XVII

* * *

**

Kim was busy trying to make up her mind what she wanted to wear that night for their date, meaning, she was rifling through her closet, alternately throwing clothes on the floor or onto her bed, often narrowly missing Monique. Her friend lay there on her side, watching as the piles grew and the clothes actually remaining on hangers diminished.

"Now, let me get this straight. Ron is tapped out, broke, busted, out of claude?" Monique asked, picking through the clothing that actually made it to the bed, considering its style merits.

"Pretty much, Mon." Kim pulled one of her green tanks out, rolled her eyes and hung it at the far end of the closet.

"And you know this how?" She took Kim's navy dress, which had been laid out first and threw it in one of the floor piles.

"We talked about it at the mall yesterday. He's been running pretty slim on his allowance, especially since that fiasco last spring tore a big chunk out of both our savings."

"But you said he's going to get some money to live on from this BN deal."

"It's going to take a while for that to start rolling in. What do you think?" She was holding her yellow peasant shirt and a pair of navy slacks up."

"Ug. Uh-uh, no way girl, you are most definitely not wearing pants on your second date."

"I don't want to wear a dress…what do you mean 'second date?'"

"Second as in number two, second as in the date that follows date number one."

"Monique, we've been dating for, what, twenty-six days and we've seen each other almost constantly. We've gone to the mall, we've gone to movies. We almost got lost after we went off alone at Lake Middleton since we forgot a flashlight."

"Nope, none of that counts. You two are a special case, you've been doing all that, save the kissing part, for as long as I've known you. That's not a date, though if something's happened during that time and you're holding out on me…"

"MONIQUE!" Kim hissed.

"Just playin' you girl. For you two, the rules are different. A date is something planned, you have a time, a place and you dress up for it."

"I just didn't want to go too dressy."

"Well, let's see what we have to work with. I don't know why I've never noticed this before, but for such a style slave, you really don't dress up girly-girly."

Kim held up a pink top with a heart on it, eying her friend dubiously.

"Yeah, that's girly alright…if you're ten. Okay, just how many dresses do you own? and I'm not counting that blue church thing any more."

"Um…three?"

"So, let's see. LBD? Nope, that one's ruled out of bounds. Cream one? Too soon, that one's been tagged as the 'first date' dress." Monique hopped off the bed and examined the final choice. "No way." She proclaimed, holding the leaf green thing at arm's length. "Girl, we are going to have to do some serious damage control at Club Banana after tonight."

"I still don't want to wear a dress tonight. Dresses are so…formal for me."

"Then let's see what you've got in skirts." Monique started in on the first pile of rejects. "Not much to work with…too fall," she tossed a brown knee length skirt aside. "Here, this is it. Girly and just a touch sexy." She held up a willowy white summer skirt, "Now, here, combine it with your peasant shirt. Now, if your Ron is so destitute, how's he going to swing tonight's festivities?"

"I'm taking care of it all."

"Uh huh. Kim the independent woman, paying for her dates. I can so see that."

"That's not exactly what I mean, at least this time. I'm not about to let Ron pay for everything and I'm sure not going to demand all sorts of high class dates like our first one. Besides, I think 'hanging out' dates are just as important as the big fancy stuff."

"I'm glad you think so. I want somebody to sweep me off my feet."

"Monique, you want somebody who worships at your feet."

"No, I just want someone who know I'm one fine baby girl. How he shows it is totally up to him. At least with you off the market we won't have another repeat of Haircut-san."

"So not the drama, but even though I'm totally with Ron, I can still look."

"Planning on making Dude-boy jealous?"

"Not on purpose. Not after the way he was jelling over that you-know-what."

Monique finished off Kim's date ensemble with a pair of white strappy sandals before helping her clean up the pile of clothing. "So, what is the big plan for tonight?"

"I told Ron we're going to a new place. Hopefully that'll occupy his mind for the afternoon while I get everything ready."

"Ready? Girl, what are you up to?"

"Mom and Dad are taking the Tweebs to Denver for some kind of advanced aptitude testing, so I've got the house to myself all day long. I know Ron can't afford a real dinner out and I so don't want another dinner at Burger Prince or Pizza Shack so I thought I'd treat him to dinner myself."

"House to yourself, treating him to dinner. Why do I HABFAT?"

"HABFAT?"

"Have a bad feeling about this." Monique eyed her girlfriend warily.

"There's nothing to worry about, Monique, I've got everything under control. Ron taught me a lot, so I think I can handle some home-made Nacos."

Monique looked like she had been shot. Her eyes got wide as saucers, her pupils dilating. "No way!"

"Oh, chill Mon. It's so not the drama."

"It is so the drama. Tell me, who was it again who got dragged down the hall by a rampaging mixer? Who was it that proved you can burn water?"

"Monique! That happened because some whack wannabe mad scientist thought he could separate hydrogen fuel from water with a hand-held beam. I can't help it I was trying to boil water at the time."

"Kim, Nacos look really simple, if you're ordering soft tacos and nachos, but that's all pre-fab food-style glop. You've still got to cook a lot of the stuff yourself if you're making them here."

"Got it all under control. You'll see."

"Oh, you're right I'm gonna see. I'm not going anyplace until I'm sure we won't have to call the hazmat team."

* * *

"Aw man, not again, no! I'm not…aw!"

"What's the matter, Stoppable? Can't get past level one without the cheat codes?" Felix taunted his friend from his chair, chomping on his slice of pizza while Ron's on-screen character expired once more.

"Hey, who told you about that?" He said as he hit the reset button again.

"You did, just now. Gotcha! Now pay attention. This is a single player game so I can't get your back, just listen to what your little fairy has to say and you'll get past the Gohma."

"Felix, I've been playing this thing for an hour and I've already gotten sick of that little bug. How is this supposed to be such a classic game, the graphics aren't even that good."

"Oh, you have to get into the story and yeah, that fairy gets on my nerves too, a lot. There, see, you get to start over fighting the boss again, you don't have to do that whole tree level over again."

"Small favors. So, have you heard about some badical new place opening today?"

"Not a thing. Did you try Wade?"

"Yeah, he couldn't come up with anything either. I even called Ned and he gave me a couple numbers to call and all, and it seems like the only place opening any time soon is Bueno Nacho."

"I know you are so there for that."

"Got that right. Actually I've got to be there, I'm part of the ribbon cutting ceremony and all." His eyes drooped into a bit of a scowl, though not too badly considering the staple of his diet was going to return. "I don't know about tonight, though. I'm just about tapped out and if this place KP wants to go to is expensive, I just don't know if I can swing it."

"Maybe since she's picking the place she's going to pick it up."

"Uh-uh, no way, forget it. There is no way the Ron-man is going to have his lady paying for their dates."

"Dude, she pays all the time. What's the deal with a date?"

"That's just it, Felix. Now that we're dating it's supposed to be my job to pay for things. Kim can be all independent and stuff with the missions, but when it comes to the two of us I want to treat her like a lady."

"Even if it means…whoops, here you go! Shoot it in the eye with your slingshot…oh! Lookout! Okay, back up and watch, it's going to lay some eggs, just whack them with your sword. Good, now wait until it opens the eye again. I was saying you can't be much of a gentleman if you can't pay the bill. That'd be worse than her paying for it to begin with."

"I guess you're right, but to hear Kim describe it, this place sounds expensive."

"So what can you afford that she'll like?"

"She likes Sizzler Barn. That's doable, if we're careful."

"Okay, so, why don't you just go over early before she gets ready and tell her…now! Whack it with your sword while it's stunned! Go over early and tell her the truth, tell her you can take her to nicer places when the money's better. That's it, now back off and watch."

"Watch what? I hit it with my sword? What's the deal? And how am I supposed to tell her I can't afford to take her out without coming off like a cheapskate?"

"One, you have to repeat that three times before you beat it and two, you're already a cheapskate, Stoppable. Kim loves you anyway, don't stress it."

"I guess you're right, Felix. I'll run over there about five thirty, before she starts getting ready."

* * *

"Um, red really is a good color on you." Kim said with a sheepish smile.

Monique was just about ready to admit defeat and throw in the towel. The whole kitchen was filled with a slight haze where the taco meat had started smoking. Kim thought the instructions had been clear. Brown meat, add seasoning, reduce heat and simmer. She'd done just that, not realizing that she had forgotten to both drain the meat and add a cup of water to the mixture, coupled with the fact she had reduced the heat to medium, not low.

It wasn't quite a fire, but it still filled the room with smoke. The meat was most definitely going to be a little on the crispy side. Ron liked crispy in his Tex-Mex, didn't he?

Trying to help keep the smoky mess from turning into a grease fire, Monique had failed to notice the jar of Mexi Salsa Roja Kim had left on the stove near the burners until it was too late. There was a slight popping sound, followed by a horrified squeal. Kim turned back from the table and the cheese she was trying to grate to see her friend covered in bright red taco sauce.

"Girl, if I did not love you like a sister…" she growled, the mess starting to drip onto the floor.

Kim took a dish towel and started mopping the mess out of her hair. "Ew, better go upstairs and wash this stuff off before it gets in your eyes or something."

She watched her head up the stairs, hearing the shower start amidst the further grumbles of her enraged girlfriend. Feeling humiliated and on the verge of defeat, Kim turned back to her work, taking the meat mixture off the range to cool. The jar of now overheated salsa was still two thirds full, so that wasn't a total loss. She thought she had enough sharp cheddar and Monterrey jack grated for her attempt at Muy Caliente Cheesidillas, so that left just heating up the cheese sauce and sticking the tortillas in the oven. Maybe this was going to work out after all.

The microwave beeped, so she opened the door to retrieve the cheese packet. Too late she realized she was supposed to have cut a small slit in the bag.

Kim joined Monique in wearing part of the evening's dinner in her hair. Growling, she stomped off to the downstairs bathroom, hoping she could get the stuff out with a quick rinse.

* * *

_Oh, this is how I want to show up for my 'big official date' with Kim_ Ron thought as he pedaled his old purple mountain bike to her house. It was either ride it or walk since both his parents were still at work, leaving him without either car. If Kim's parents weren't home, he didn't know what he would do once he got there. Even if he could talk her out of dressing up for a big dinner, there was still the problem of getting to Sizzler Barn. It was on the edge of town, right at the main exit off the interstate, making it a little far for even a bike ride.

He really wished he could at least go ahead and get another scooter. It was pretty late when his parents had come home the night before but he still sat down and talked to them. He took Kim's advice and tried to keep an even temper while they talked. She was right after all that they really had no choice about what they had done, so he kept his argument about being left out of the loop in the family.

"I tell you what, Ronald, if you can save your money, I'll help you buy a car. I'll even go one further with you. Save enough money to guy a scooter and I'll release enough money from the trust to buy one, then you can put that money in your car fund."

It sounded like a really good deal, a good deal that would take a couple months. If he was careful and just a bit lucky he could be one with the blacktop just in time for school. In the mean time he still had to borrow the car when he could and ride his bike when he couldn't.

Transportation had never been such an issue with him before. Kim could usually ring up Wade and something would be waiting for them, usually within minutes. Otherwise, everything they ever needed up to this point was within easy walking distance. Kim was just a couple miles away, the fast food district was close by (it was always a good thing to walk those types of meals off) and even the mall could be reached on foot. Suddenly, however, there were other needs. One simply did not show up at the nicer restaurants on two-wheelers. Then there was the whole thing about 'parking.'

Something started screaming 'warning' at his senses as he approached Kim's house. Right off the bat he knew something was truly amiss. The garage door was open, the mini-van gone but the Jaguar was still sitting there. That was odd. If it was gone this time of day either Mrs. Dr. P. couldn't get away from the hospital or the whole family had gone somewhere. A bit of hormonally charged fantasy hoped for the latter.

Then other senses started chiming in, changing lusty anticipation into alarm.

Ron could smell the slight twinge of smoke.

Slowly the gears in his head clicked into place, mimicking the poorly tuned drive train of his bicycle. Kim wanted to go to dinner at an apparently non-existent new place, a place where they would get 'the best table.' There wasn't a new restaurant opening, the table was right there in her house!

_She was cooking him dinner!_

He couldn't get his key out fast enough. He burst in the door, heading first for the kitchen.

There was still a haze in the air of slightly burnt meat and brown, crusted over cheese sauce. Red salsa covered part of the stove, some of it having formed a crust on the glowing eye that had been left on. Fortunately the meat itself, still swimming in un-drained grease was off the heat.

He surveyed the damage, wondering how the salsa had managed to explode. Ron knew all too well what his favorite (well favorite outside of Diablo Sauce) Mexican salsa could do if you got it in your eyes. His worry got worse when he realized he could hear the shower going upstairs.

Sprinting, he managed to get up the main staircase in just three bounds. Covering his eyes, he poked his head into the bathroom. "Uh, KP, are you okay?"

Not hearing any answer, he peeked though his fingers…

…just in time to see Monique snap out of her 'deer-in-the-headlights' trance as she snatched a towel from the rack.

Kim was just coming out of the downstairs bathroom, patting her hair with a towel as she saw a streak of blonde hair and red jersey come flying down the stairs, a towel wrapped and thoroughly infuriated Monique just a few steps behind.

"You better run!" She screamed, leaving an open mouthed Kim in her wake.


	18. Part XVIII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XVIII**

**

* * *

**It had been a very quiet drive to say the least. Ron was actually quite thankful that Monique's car, small as it was, had a back seat. Despite much apologizing, hiding, groveling and Ron swearing on Rufus' life that all he had seen were her wide open eyes, he didn't much feel like sitting too close to her at the moment. Still, he caught her glaring at him several times in the rearview mirror. After what seemed like an utter eternity they pulled up at his house. 

"I'll just be a minute Monique." He said, squeezing his way out of the car.

"Oh, and what are you going to wear?" she cocked an eyebrow at him, leaning out the window on her elbow.

"Um, just some fresh…clothes."

"Oh boy." She climbed out of the car, grabbing Ron's hand and dragging him to the house. "Your lady did not just about burn down her house making you dinner for you to just change out of that hockey jersey into a sweatshirt and just who in their right mind wears long sleeves in the middle of June?"

"Hey, don't be dissin' my essential Ron-ness! I've got some nicer shirts and stuff." His defense was falling on deaf ears as she pulled him through the front door.

Gene Stoppable looked up from his paper as the two teens came in, one eyebrow going up as tried to comprehend the sight of a very attractive young woman leading his son upstairs.

"Hi, Mister Stoppable." Monique gave him a slight wave before dragging her charge toward his room.

Jean Stoppable stepped out of the kitchen, missing the precession. "What was that, hon?"

"Monique Jenkins just dragged Ron upstairs." He said, shrugging his shoulders at the question implied by her expression.

"I thought he was going steady with that Possible girl he's always hung out with."

"You know the kids these days, dear, they change faster than they change their hairstyles."

"I still wish he'd find a nice…" She stopped, catching her husband's glare. She squinted at him, shrugged and went back to fixing their dinner.

_It's about time_ Gene thought, looking at the stairs, trying to make out what was being done and said up there.

Halfway through the door it suddenly occurred to Monique what she was about to do. She was entering the forbidden domain – a teenaged boy's room. It didn't matter that Kim had been here hundreds of times. That was different, at least up to a month ago. Ron was just her best friend, and there were no moral implications about her being up here.

For her it was different. Ron was as much a guy as anyone she knew. Not to mention the fact that, in reality, if he hadn't been so tight with Kim she might have been interested. _NO! Get away from that thought, woman. You and Ron – wrongsick!_

Then why was Ron the first thing she thought about when they mentioned Hirotaka earlier?

She put it off as being jealous of their relationship, not about any attraction she might have for Ron. After all, he was loyal, steadfast, caring and, most importantly, loving…to Kim. His innate lack of physical hotness aside, that's what she really wanted in a relationship. She also understood all too well the way Ron treated Kim, at least as far as being her boyfriend, applied solely to her and her alone. He was at heart sweet, kind, relatively innocent (as much as a normal hormone oozing teenage boy could be) and willing to be anyone's friend, but it was clear his heart belonged to one girl alone in the whole world.

Maybe that was the reason she had never been on more than three dates with any guy. She craved that kind of devotion. Kim hadn't been too far off about her wanting a boyfriend who would worship at her feet. It wasn't that. Well, yes it was, but she wanted that worship because he was in love with her. She wanted someone who would give their heart to her like he had to Kim.

Deep inside, she was also a little ticked off that he didn't seem to like what he saw. Oh, she was ticked off _that_ he saw what he did, but still…

"I swear, the two of you must have been separated at birth." She surveyed his room. There were more clothes piled on the floor and bed than in his closet. She was almost afraid to look in his chest of drawers.

"Uh, sorry, but the maid has been off this week." He said, trying to grab up as much of the discarded clothing as he could, dropping several things in the process.

One thing in particular caught her attention, her eyes going wide. She snatched it up before he could react. She dangled it from her fingers, shooting him _the look_. "Care to explain this one, Rondo?"

"Uh, well, uh." Ron couldn't meet her eyes, or look at the white, strappy garment she was holding. He suddenly found the spot under his nose itched quite fiercely.

"Right, Mister 'were-moving-too-fast.'"

"It's not like that, Mon. KP's got a lot of her stuff here. The bottom drawer is all her stuff, I guess that just got left out."

"Ron, I have a sneaking suspicion that the clothes you've got of hers are all black crop tops and cargo pants, not Jockey size thirty two A. Actually, I'm sort of proud of you, second base after only one date?"

Ron grabbed it from her, stuffing it into Kim's drawer. "If you must know, when we got back from the mall, Kim wanted me to give her a back rub like she'd given me before we left. I didn't see anything. She made me wait out here while she got ready, I guess she forgot to put it back on. I don't know, I wasn't watching. She fell asleep so I went downstairs to watch Scamper and Bitey while she took her nap."

"If you say so." She said, laughing. "I for one think you'd be the first person to notice whether she had one on or not."

"Uh, well, normally, yeah, but I guess I was paying to much attention to the kissing when she came back downstairs."

"Sure. Now, let's see what we have to work with here. What exactly is clean and what isn't?"

Ron started picking up clothes again, holding some of it to his nose.

"Oh, never mind." She went to the closet, assuming the clothes hanging stood the best chance of actually being fresh. "Attention Smarty Mart Shoppers, brainstorm in Ron's closet. Dude, do you own anything that doesn't come from a discount store?"

"Uh, some of my mission gear, but KP gets most of that for me."

"Sigh…well, let's see if I can work a miracle here."

* * *

Kim stood in front of the mirror, still fussing with her look. The pale yellow top was one of her favorites, especially since she had taken the laces off the collar. She recalled looking at herself in her mirror one time before, getting ready to go out on a Friday night. It wasn't a date, it never really was, but something inside her was having a naughty thought about a certain someone wanting to untie them. So, she simply pulled them out. You really couldn't see anything else, but it was the thought that just a bit more neck was showing. Didn't matter, since the fellow she had subconsciously wanted to impress ended up mashing mummies all weekend with Felix. 

_That's Zombies_ a voice in her head corrected.

She had to admit, the outfit Monique picked out for her was good, really good. The peasant shirt, the multi-layered looking white skirt, the strappy sandals all blended really nicely, mixing her familiar look with one that wasn't so much girly, but feminine.

Somehow, though, it just wasn't satisfying.

After calming Monique down (she hadn't seen Ron that scared since, well, since the 'gravy ghost' incident) the three of them set about cleaning up the kitchen, Ron making a real effort to express his gratitude for the gesture while at the same time letting her down easy. She was disappointed, but really had to admit her home-made Nacos attempt was a complete loss, especially considering the tortillas were forgotten in the oven, turning into something resembling a fractured dinner plate. Rufus consumed the only remaining edible part – the grated cheese – and the leftover block as well.

Then Monique not only offered to take Ron home to change into something nice, she also made a couple calls, lining up a nice, but still quite affordable restaurant not far from the theater. It wasn't what she had planned, but it would be nice to have a night out on the town.

It was also nice thinking about their third planned date. Friday night Ron was going to chase his folks out of the house and they would spend the evening making dinner together. He was going to teach her how to cook if it killed him!

With a sigh, she slipped the clothes off again. They would be appropriate Friday, but tonight, with the new plans, she needed something better, something that would knock Ron's socks off (literally if she played it right – she had discovered the joys of footsies.)

Looking in her closet, her eyes came to rest on just the right thing. She smiled almost wickedly, knowing the reaction he would have. Time to take some bad memories and make them good.

She glanced at her digital clock. Ron wouldn't take long to change, unless Monique took her time picking out his clothes. In a snap decision she threw on her robe and headed down for a quick shower after laying out her clothes. Another sly smile played across her face as she got out fresh unmentionables. No see-thru, ride-up-where-it-don't-belong lace tonight, just simple, plain cotton. That's all she would need with this particular outfit, much to her mother's chagrin.

Almost a year ago her mother had grabbed her by the top to drag her to the breakfast table. Halfway from the door to the seat she realized that it was obvious to her what she didn't have on. That evening, Anne Possible had laid down the law on what fifteen year old young ladies wore, whether they needed it or not. After all, one never knew when there would be a draft of cold air to contend with.

She froze for half a second, realizing what she had left at Ron's the night before, hoping beyond hope he had found it before his parents had!

That worry got lost in the memory of her backrub. She sent him out of the room for just a moment, carefully lying on his bed so he would have just as much access to her back as she did his earlier that day. The experience had been utterly wonderful, much more so than the simple shoulder and back rubs he had given her before. It filled her with as much longing as it did pleasure.

Kim was happy now with the understanding they had come to. That longing was a good one, one that told her that her feelings for him were true. Those desires had taken their place along with the other things she wanted now, like having her own car, like going to college…

…like marrying Ron and being with him forever, like having his children. Those were all things that were in the future, things she was certain about, things that made her feel complete at this point in her life.

Quickly toweling off her hair, she ran a brush through it to help speed the drying. Ron was right, for as much hair as she had, it sure did dry pretty fast. She pulled it up into a scrunchie so it would be easier to do her makeup. Oh, she was going to let it down before he got back.

She was going to rock his sixteen year-old world tonight. Within reason, of course.

* * *

"Okay, Ron, here's the deal. You treat this car like it's your mother's car, you got it?" 

"Got it."

It didn't take Monique but a twinkling to catch the look in Ron's eyes. Certainly Kim hadn't told him about the dream, had she? Then she thought of something else.

"Rule two, you don't take this car up Logging Camp road. There are people who know whose car this is and I don't want any unwanted rumors to deal with, you dig?"

"Sure thing Monique."

"Now here, this is enough to cover dinner and the movie tonight. It's a loan, so once you start getting your allowance, I want it paid back."

"I promise Monique."

"Okay, now, go pick her up and have a nice time. Oh, and one more thing."

Before he could react she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, giving him a warm kiss on the lips. It wasn't filled with passion the way Kim did, but it was a lot more than a friendly peck."

"Wow." She said finally, letting him go. "Kim's right, you really do know how to do that."

"Whu, whu, whu?"

"Just curiosity Ron. Let's just say I want you to give that to Kim for me. Just, let's never speak of this again, dig? Now, go get her Doctor Love."

She watched him drive away, standing on the curb, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, gotta get me one of those." She said, turning finally toward her house.

* * *

"I'll be down in just a sec!" He heard her call from upstairs. Even though the house was empty, somehow waiting in the foyer had become the 'proper place' to wait. 

Moments later any stray thoughts about the surprise kiss were chased away. Kim made her way down the stairs slowly, letting him drink in the sight of her.

She was wearing it! She was actually wearing it! He couldn't take his eyes off her if his very life depended on it. Her legs seemed to go on forever, the tiny slit at the hem suggesting, hinting that there was even more inside. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his whole being turning into jelly at the sight of her smile.

It was a little different this time. Instead of the red shoes and bangles, she was wearing white strappy sandals. A wide, white belt was slung low on her hips, making the short dress look even shorter on her. In the low light of the stairway he could tell she was also wearing hose with it, tan hose that made her legs even sexier than he could have imagined…but it was that dress, that short black dress she had first worn at the Middleton Days Festival that drove him wild. It was that dress that had been part of what had put him on the path to realizing just how much he was in love with her.

Kim smiled at her awestruck boyfriend, knowing in an instant she made the right choice. He looked pretty good himself, with a dark maroon shirt, khaki slacks and his new black shoes. Monique certainly knew her craft.

Gently she closed his mouth as she reached him. That was certainly no way to start a kiss!

They were almost late for their reservations.

* * *

_**Next: What summer would be complete without family vacations?**_


	19. Part XIX

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XIX

* * *

**

"KP, I don't know if I can walk another step."

"Keep going, Ron. If you fall over I'll land on top of you and neither of us is going to move."

Somehow Ron managed to get his keys out as they made it up the last step. He still fumbled for the lock set into the red door. He needn't have bothered. The porch light winked to life and the door swung inwards in the hand of a rather ticked off Doctor James Timothy Possible.

He stared down at the two teens, fixing Ron with a steely glare of parental disapproval. "I see now that lifting your curfew may have been a bit premature, Kimmie-cub." He said, crossing his arms as the two teens filed inside. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I don't…yawn…know Dad. I stopped looking at my watch about three."

"Well, it's four thirty, young lady, and while I know I can trust the two of you to behave, people notice things like the two of you showing up this time of the morning. Believe me, people will talk and when people start talking about things like that, all sorts of other attention starts falling on you."

If finally dawned on Kim's sluggish mind that her father thought they were just then coming in from their weekly 'big night out.' "Hello, Dad. Have you even noticed we're not wearing the same things we were before we left for our date?" She bloused the legs her olive cargos for emphasis.

James stopped, his mouth open as if to speak. They had indeed left the house at seven the night before, Kim dressed in a casual top and a skirt, Ron in his usual red jersey. Now they were both dressed in filthy mission gear. "Oh, uh, sorry…well…how much did the mission cut into your date then?"

"They didn't even bring our sodas to the table when Wade rung in."

"Oooh, not good. Sorry. What happened."

"Belize, Monkey Fist, Ron freaks out about the monkey ninjas, I get tied up, he goes all mighty monkey…"

"The usual?"

"The usual." She eyed the empty coffee pot and the long, inviting couch in the family room, weighing her options. Ron had already decided, taking up a position on the couch, probably asleep in the most technical sense long before he actually managed to lay down and curl up in an almost fetal position. _I can't believe this, we are actually out of shape_ she thought.

The mission call had actually been a big surprise. The majority of June had flown past with little more than a couple local calls for assistance. When the Kimmunicator had gone off they both thought it was just Wade calling in to report on something like the progress of Drakken's trial or that he'd beat the high score on some game or another.

Instead they had been caught in a position neither would have thought possible only a few months earlier. They weren't ready. They actually had to drive back to Ron's house to get a set of mission gear. Ron's mother looked like she was going to actually freak when Kim walked in with her boyfriend and immediately ran up the stairs with him, as if she was thinking the date was going a little too well for her comfort. She seemed actually relieved when they ran back down five minutes later in black mock turtlenecks. Maybe it occurred to her later that the two of them had just changed clothes in the same room. Their backs had been to each other, but still…

Her father put a hand on her shoulder as he walked past. He apparently had grown used to her acting like an actual teenager instead of a world class hero. Without another word he made his way up the stairs, thankful it was Saturday and would be able to make up some of the sleep he had lost thinking the kids had been abusing the trust he had extended to them. Lack of sleep still didn't keep his logical mind from wondering how he could even say anything if there were no real curfew.

Kim gave up on the coffee pot, focusing instead on a little bit of sleep. Her bed would be soft and comfortable, but that meant at least a quick shower and changing before crawling in, perhaps taking an extra half-hour and winding her up even more than she already was. The other option was the couch. It was comfortable, but nothing like her bed. However, it was right there, ready for her. Plus there was an added bonus. If she could manage to pry him out of his fetal position she could curl up with him, sleeping with him for at least a couple of hours before the Tweebs rocketed downstairs to watch horribly outdated cartoons on _TV Trash Heap_.

She didn't have to think about it very long. Ron didn't even stir as she straightened out his legs and pulled his hiking boots off. She kicked her own shoes off as quickly as she could, no longer used to the extra weight of the retractable roller skates and the rocket motors in the heels. They were so going to have to do some training and quick. Monkey Fist was thwarted, but got away in the end. Their thorough beating of Shego and Drakken had driven a lot of the worst freaks underground for a while, but Fist's narrow escape wouldn't take long to vibrate through the grapevine. Their unexpected (but very welcome) vacation was about to come to an abrupt end.

Kim put her head on Ron's stomach, stretching out full length beside him on the wide cushions. She tried to hold off sleep, wanting to enjoy being with him, knowing how much she craved the contact with him. Whether it was holding his hand, hugging, kissing or even snuggled up on a blanket to watch the Independence Day fireworks the week before, she reveled in being close to him. As her mind grayed, stealing away her consciousness, she fantasized about having a mission that actually kept them some place overnight. The last time that had happened the had somehow ended up with their foreheads touching together. It had been slightly embarrassing then, neither of them wanting to admit how nice it had felt until they had to admit they were both wide awake. Now she was thinking about a lot more of them touching and being able to use the extra sleeping bag as a pillow.

Just as she was on the edge of true sleep, Ron rolled toward her, throwing an arm over her shoulder. Kim smiled sweetly, giving him the lightest kiss when she felt something moving down between them. Her eyes shot open, thinking somehow his pants had actually managed to open. He had managed to keep them up for the entire mission, so they were due.

She breathed a sigh of relief as Rufus scrambled up onto his human's belly, then up onto the arm of the couch were it was much less likely he was going to be squashed by the young lovers. Ron's pants were still safely buttoned and belted to his waist.

She scooted back down, putting her head back on his stomach, wrapping an arm around his waist as she drifted off to sleep again, mentally trying to make her sleep-deprived mind figure the number of days remaining till her birthday. Not just her seventeenth, which was only a few weeks away, but her eighteenth.

There was a decision to be made then, one she had a strong feeling would fall in her favor.

* * *

The smell of coffee was the first thing that registered in her mind, that, and the flickering lights of the big-screen TV across the room. Tim and Jim were sitting in front of it, the sound turned down quite low. That in itself was actually amazing and most likely had far more to do with her mother than any consideration her little brothers had for her. 

Ron was still sacked out, dead to the world. Some time during the night he had rolled onto his belly. How he had managed to do that and not wake her up, she had no clue. The small of his back was certainly not as good a pillow as his tummy, but she found she still didn't want to move.

Except if she was going to have any of that wonderful smelling brew, she would have to get up. Mentally she planned her course of attack. More than likely her mother was camped out at the stove, blocking the way to the pot. Her father would be at the kitchen table, his face hidden behind his newspaper. If she was to get herself a cup and get back out she would have to time it perfectly. Mom would have to have her back turned, paying attention to whatever she was fixing for breakfast. Otherwise it was going to either be lecture central of spill city, depending on exactly how much her father had related about the previous evening/early morning.

Only a few minutes went by before the smell itself overpowered her. Gently she extricated herself from Ron. By the time she was up she realized she could have climbed right across him bodily and he wouldn't have awakened. She was extremely thankful he didn't snore.

Jim and Tim shot her identical looks that said _there will be payback for this morning's consideration_. She returned their grin with one that said _don't even think about it, Tweebs_!

She made it halfway through the pocket door into the kitchen before she stopped cold.

Nothing was as it should be.

Both her mother and her father were sitting at the table, his usual paper nowhere in sight. The only thing prepared on the counter was a mostly empty pot of coffee. There was likely only enough coffee to mostly fill her mug. That would be just fine, considering Ron much preferred juice in the mornings. Fine, except there was another reason so much coffee was already gone.

There were two more people sitting at the table across from her parents. Their backs were to her but she knew their dark blonde hair anywhere.

"Oh, good morning Kimmie." Her mother said cheerfully. "Why don't you go wake up Ron and get cleaned up. We're all going out to breakfast.

"Hi Kim." Gene and Jean Stoppable said in unison.

Kim didn't know whether to be worried or pleased that all four parents were in such a good mood. At least it meant the two of them weren't about to get a dressing down for the late return. Then again, all of them together did not always bode well. She was with Ron, she preferred 'well boding.'

Aware that four sets of eyes set into oddly cheerful faces were watching her every move, she poured the remains of the pot into her mug, only filling it about three quarters full. Automatically she refilled the maker, starting a fresh pot (if only she could handle the rest of the kitchen so easily!)

She took half her cup down in one gulp, not even bothering to taste it. The brew was strong, which suited her just fine. The last couple years she had come to prefer her coffee black, that being the easiest to come by and the easiest to drink when all you wanted was the buzz.

Ron, on the other hand, was not a person anyone wanted getting all wired up. When he did drink coffee there was more milk and sugar in it than the brew itself. That was just as well, considering the disproportionate effect caffeine had on his system. Throw in the three to four spoonfuls of sugar he would put in it and you had the recipe for a buzz-monster.

Waking him up from such a sound slumber was not going to be easy. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost eight. Four hours of sleep after reaching the point of near total exhaustion was refreshing to her, but Ron would probably take all the way through breakfast and on to lunch time before he was firing on all cylinders.

"Ron. Time to get up." She pulled on his shoulder, managing only to make him roll onto his back.

"Mmmm…smack…KP, why don' you rub my back some more…snorezzzzzzz." He muttered, never once opening his eyes.

Kim crossed her arms, looking down at her sleeping boyfriend. Need to sleep aside, this could spell real trouble if he got this way on a mission. He needed to be more like her, able to awaken and function within minutes.

"Ron, wake up!" she commanded.

"Honey…snort…hit the snooze bar…badical…thanks." This time he rolled onto his side, putting his back to her, burying his face in the pillow.

"Let us try." Jim and Tim had abandoned the TV during the commercials.

"Ron…Rufus is…" Tim started.

"…eating your Nacos." Jim finished.

Ron sat up so fast you would have thought his neck would snap. Alert brown eyes found and fixed the still-snoring rodent with an icy glare. It took a few seconds, but the fact they had not been to the newly re-opened restaurant in a couple days finally sunk in.

"Ron, go upstairs, get some fresh clothes and hit the downstairs shower. Your 'rents are here. Something's up."

"Aw, man. This was our Saturday to go to Temple together with them. I bet they're ticked."

"I don't know Honey…"

"Honey!" Jim and Tim almost shrieked, launching immediately into kissy-face sounds. Ron buried his face in his hands, sitting back down on the couch.

"See, this is why we only use those kinds of names IN PRIVATE." He said into his hands.

"Sorry. I was going to say they all seem really, really chipper. That's got me worried."

"Oooo. Not good, not good at all." He looked around her, trying to see into the kitchen.

"Get a move on, buster, I think they might have found a breakfast buffet you haven't been banned from yet, so the faster we get cleaned up, the faster we find out what the sitch is." She pulled him up, shoving him toward the stairs.

"Maybe if we helped each other get clean, it'd go faster." He shot her his goofiest grin.

"Sorry, **_honey_**, maybe your brain is short-circuiting. ALL of our parents are in this house."

"S'alright, KP. I'm a guy, it's what we do."


	20. Part XX

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XX **(Ron, that's the Roman Numeral Twenty, not X X!)

* * *

Kim had never seen an omelet so huge before. She had assumed it was going to be the usual little sliver of folded, fluffy eggs around a little meat and cheese. Instead the waitress set what would be a lot more likely to be called a log in front of her, stuffed to overflowing with every meat on the menu. She was familiar with a "Denver Omelet" considering she had lived her entire life in Colorado, but this variation, the "Colorado Omelet" was entirely more impressive than anything she had ever seen before. Not only that, but a plate of large buttermilk pancakes and a side of crispy hash browns were set out for her as well. There was enough food there to split with both of her parents and still have something left for Rufus to snack on, if the little guy could actually wait until after the humans ate. As if.

Not that any sharing like that was going to happen. Ron ordered the same thing and had already wolfed down his pancakes and was halfway through the main course. It was entirely likely she was going to cut about a third of her plate for herself and hand the rest over to her voracious boyfriend. Without him having to ask she slid the small plate holding her pancakes over to his side. Before Ron could even pick up the syrup a tiny pink form hopped up on the table and helped himself to the one on top, gobbling it up in three bites.

All eight of them were seated at one of the large, round table/booths located in the corners of the busy restaurant. At least Ron was using his best table manners, meaning he was actually using silverware. If they had been with anyone outside of their families she still would have been mortified by the way he stuffed his food. "Ron, how can you even enjoy it when you eat so fast."

"Sorry, KP. If I don't keep pace with the bottomless pit here, he'll eat everything before I can even get a bite." He glanced down at Kim's omelet, of which she had taken all of two bites.

"Go ahead." She said, rolling her eyes as he sliced off half the monster breakfast and transferred it to his plate. Her hash browns had already disappeared, replaced on the plate by a Naked Mole Rat with a bulging stomach.

"James, I never got the chance to thank you for taking Ron on your family vacation last year." Gene said finally, still picking at his eggs.

"No problem, Gene, he was a pleasure to have along."

Kim eyed the two men warily. The subject of family vacations hadn't yet come up in either household. It was something neither she or Ron cared to think about. The week-long trip to Montana last year had been the exception rather than the rule. Normally vacations separated them, at least when Ron's parents went away. Actually, the more she thought about it, she couldn't think of a really big family trip Ron hadn't been on. It was when he went with his parents they were kept apart. The last time had been their trip to Paris. At least her pursuit of Monkey Fist, Killagin and Shego had kept her from pining over her then 'best friend.'

Then the kernel of an idea started forming in her head. The Possibles and the Stoppables had been on friendly terms since the latter had moved to Middleton when Ron was a toddler with everyone on a first-name basis. However, she could not even remember a time outside of Ron's Bar Mitzvah that she had seen all four parents together at once. It was always the two fathers or the two mothers together, and that was fairly rare in its own right. The main connection the two families had was the relationship she had with Ron.

Yet here they all were, with all the adults acting almost sickeningly cheerful and talking about last year's vacation, with talk of this year's trips becoming long overdue.

"You know," Ron's father started, "we normally like to take our vacation early in the summer, right after school lets out. This year Jean and I decided to put it off for a little while, to give you kids a chance to be together. I know how much you and Kim mean to each other."

Kim could sense it coming. As mature as she considered herself to be, she didn't relish the thought of spending a week or more apart from Ron. Not right now. This was their time and she was jealous of anything that would take it away from them.

Her father cut in. "Now that things are getting a little back to normal," he said, alluding perhaps to the resumption of their missions, "we all thought it was time to get away from town for a little while, just to reset the mind."

_Here it comes._

"Now, I know the two of you like to spend as much time together as possible. Heaven knows, the two of you were like that even when you didn't think you were a couple, but there will come a time when you will have to do without each other, a time when you have to test your relationship by being apart. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Dad, if it's all the same, I'd just as soon stay home than go away. Summer vacation is short enough, I want to make the most of it with Ron this year. We've only been dating a couple months."

"From what I've seen, the two of you haven't been more than five feet apart for longer than half an hour in the last twenty four plus. There will come a point when that's not healthy. Why, I remember when your mother and I were dating I'd up and decide to lock myself in my room for a whole week so I could study."

"Dear, that's not a very good example." Her mother cut in. "You lasted half a day before you realized you couldn't concentrate because you were thinking about me. It was so sweet, by dinnertime that evening he was on the phone, begging for me to come over and help him."

"I thought Ron was the one who couldn't focus." Ron's mother said, speaking seemingly for the first time since they got to the restaurant save for ordering. "I see that look of panic in your eyes, Kim. I think your father's trying to work a lecture into what we're all here to announce."

"I know." Kim said dejectedly. "You all think some fam time will do us some good, that we're spending too much time together, neglecting everyone else."

"Uh, no. Sweetheart, if we were going to complain about the two of you spending so much time together we should have done that five or six years ago. I think you're perfectly right to want to spend the time you do with Ron. It's so nice for my little boy to have such a good friend like you. It's…also nice that you two feel the way you do now."

"What we're trying to say," Gene's father took over from that point, "this year we've talked it over with your parents and we've decided we're all going to take our vacations together, all eight of us."

"Wow, that's spankin!" Kim's face lit up with joy, the prospect of having both families together for a week or more a much better idea than spending that time moping, missing Ron.

She reached under the table to give his thigh a good squeeze. That's when she noticed the look of horrified shock on his face. You would have thought two dozen monkey ninjas had suddenly appeared at the adjoining both, ready to swarm all over him.

"Kim…on a vacation…with us? Eh heh…eh heh heh. What's not to love?" He said quietly, trying to reconcile his girlfriend's obvious excitement with his abject terror.

Some of the excitement drained out of her eyes, worried what was upsetting him so. "So, where are we all going?"

"Well, we haven't seen Nana since Christmas and it's been more than a year since we've been down to see her in Florida, so I thought we'd head down that way." Her father said amidst the rest of the grinning adults.

_Spankin' denied_ she started to think. Even though she had come to an understanding with her grandmother over her lifestyle, by the time they picked her up at the airport last winter it seemed just like everything had reverted right back to the way it was before, with the exception of all the little comments she constantly made about Ron. It seemed that even her Grandmother, in the short time she had known him, had picked up on the poorly hidden feelings between the two teens. Still, she was constantly after Kim to 'dress a little more like a young lady' and quit running around in 'boy pants' all the time. At least she had finally stopped nagging about her missions.

If only she would stop laboring under the impression Kim was perpetually an eight year old girl. She constantly tried to get her to wear sundresses, even to the point of sending a home-made dress for her to wear for school pictures. Her mother had nagged (and puppy-dog pouted) her into at least trying the dress on at home – with Ron banished to his home – so they could at least send a picture with it on. Turned out the dress was not only too small, it was so short she would have to wear shorts under it. She was utterly mortified when her mother suggested adding white go-go boots.

"So…when?" She asked with a sheepish smile.

"We'll leave late tomorrow morning. We'll drive halfway tomorrow then the rest of the way Monday." James said.

"Why don't you kids run on while we finish up our plans." Gene said. "I'm sure you'd like to make up for the date you missed out on last night."

Kim probably hadn't eaten but a quarter of her huge omelet but now she found she wasn't quite as hungry as she thought she was. Not that it mattered, while they were talking Rufus had moved in on the remainder, wolfing it down before disappearing back into Ron's pocket to sleep his 'light' meal off.

They were almost to the door when Ron's father called to them. "Ron, stop by the Photo mat for me. I dropped off a roll of film I forgot from our Paris trip last year."

"Sure thing, Dad. See you all later."

"Kimmie-cub, don't forget, we'll need to pack, don't stay out too long."

"'Kay, Dad, bye." She waved with as much enthusiasm as she could.

They walked in silence until they were out of sight of the blue roofed restaurant. "At least we'll be together." Kim muttered, walking with her hands in her pockets.

"That'll be better than the last time we were down there. I hardly saw you the whole time."

"That's because you spent the whole time looking for love in all the wrong places. I still can't understand how you had the nerve to ask that many college girls out. You do know that not a one of those was real, don't you?"

"I didn't notice." He said, smiling wistfully.

"Like heck you didn't. Spring break in Fort Summerdell, Florida was only a few triangles of cloth short of a _Girls Gone Wild Video_."

"Oh, that's what you're talking about. I thought you meant the girls were fake."

"Ron! Don't play all innocent with me. You hadn't started growing again then and I saw where your eyes were most of the time. So, what do you think? Should I get some work when I turn eighteen?" She arched her back, trying to accentuate her modest chest as much as possible.

"No way, KP. I love you just the way you are. Those girls, well, they want you to look there. Can't help it, it's just the way guys are wired. If you think about it, it's just like staring at a really big nasty mole on somebody's nose. It's so 'out there' you can't help but look."

"So it doesn't matter to you that I'm not 'blessed.'"

Ron stopped and turned to face her. "KP, when I look at you, what do I look at?"

She smiled slightly. "Well, I've caught you looking at my butt, especially lately."

"Besides that?"

"You look at my eyes."

"Right, Kim. You have the most beautiful eyes, the most beautiful face in the whole world and I'd much rather look there than at your chest."

"You don't like looking at my chest?" She said in a mock pout.

A slight smile crossed his face as his eyes shifted lower. He leaned forward, making like he was reaching for her collar with his outstretched finger. She quickly swatted away his hand. "Didn't say that, KP. I like looking at the whole package, if you know what I mean."

She wrapped her arms around him, giving him a nice, long kiss. "Thought so, loverboy. I'm going to make sure we get plenty of time away from the 'rents while we're down there. Monique picked out some really nice bathing suits that I'd really like to model for you."

They started walking again. "Uh, Kim, that's going to be a problem. You've never been on a trip with my parents, so you wouldn't know."

"Know what?"

"That they don't let me out of their sight. Why do you think I spent so much time on the phone with you?"

"I thought you were just checking up on Rufus."

"I was, but my Mom and Dad are the world's worst tourists. Dad mangled what little French he knew so bad it's a wonder they didn't ban us from ever coming back there."

"So speaks the man who was worried about not finding French toast and French fries while he was there."

"Hey, don't diss the culture, Kim. I just wanted to do my part to soak up as much as I possibly could."

"It shouldn't be so bad, Honey." She grinned a little wickedly, taking a little enjoyment at watching him search his surroundings for anyone who might have overheard her. "I mean, they can't stick with you twenty-four seven."

"Like I said, you've never been on a trip with them. I don't know how we're going to work it when we get there, but every time we go somewhere we always get a double room. Kim, it's frightening."

They walked into the Photo store hand in hand. "Hi Ron." The clerk said as the approached the counter.

"Reager? I didn't know you worked here."

"My dad owns the franchise, so he sticks me behind the counter. So, dude, what can we do you for?"

"I'm supposed to pick up some prints for my Dad. Should be under Gene Stoppable."

A few minutes later they were outside, sitting at the curb, flipping through the shots. "Cool, the Arc de Triumph, The Seine. Ron, you're Dad is a pretty good shot with a camera."

"Yeah, he's no slouch. Just wish there were more pictures of us. Oh, here's where we went to the Eiffel Tower, there should be a nice group shot of…"

Just as he expected, there was the shot, taken by a helpful Parisian. It was a really nice shot of the family. Yet instead of the sprawling ancient city in the background there, clear as day, was Duff Killagin wearing a plaid parachute…

…with Kim and Rufus both hanging on for dear life.

He shot her a look that said _Kim, you got some 'splainin to do!_


	21. Part XXI

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXI**

* * *

Anne Possible was extremely excited about the trip. Of all the Possible clan, she was the one who absolutely loved anything that included the whole family. Since Ron was all but family anyway, the inclusion of his parents on the ten day long vacation was just icing on the cake for her. It meant the two kids could be together for almost the entire summer, while still being integral parts of their respective families. She might have had motherly fantasies of the two growing up, getting married and bringing her grandchildren but right now she was under no illusions that the two were any more than a high-school couple who felt like they were experiencing the greatest love of their lives. She absolutely adored Ron and hoped the friendship and love that had been built in the decade plus they had been together would blossom into much more.

Yet something inside her wondered if such complete devotion to one young man by her daughter was robbing her of something important. For the last couple years James had been worried about the virtual buffet of boys out there who would be interested in his daughter, who he saw as both a beautiful young woman and as a toddler in pigtails, all at the same time. That threat had never materialized, save for a certain 'blip on the radar' that was now not mentioned in the family circle any more.

Kim was obviously deeply in love with Ron, and it wasn't a rebound from the disaster that came before, it was a recognition of something that had been there for a long time. That's what finally made her comfortable with the depth of the teenager's feelings. It was built on friendship and trust and, if her doctor's observations could be trusted, more than a little bit of chemical compatibility. Physical attraction went far deeper than looks alone and she would be the first to admit that while Ron wasn't unattractive, he was just a little bit plain.

She was proud that Kim had learned to look past that, to see him for what he truly was. He was certainly a better choice than that other boy she spent almost two years crushing over. Josh was the exact opposite of Ron, pretty looks (yes, she had to agree with Kim that he was 'golden' in the looks department) but his personality was just so…bland. The only thing a boy like that was good for was as a sort of trophy, someone who you didn't really feel anything for, you just used them to look good to your peers. When Kim was fifteen, she didn't understand that. To her, the several dates and hanging out time with him had been fun, and that was perfectly all right then. It had been fun for her and she learned something from it, something that was a integral part in the relationship that was still forming with Ron.

The fact the two kids were very physically affectionate didn't bother her. Even if they had been wholly intimate didn't concern her overly much, though her mother's intuition told her they had likely come close but backed off so far. Given her druthers, she'd prefer they wait, especially given her husband's views on the subject, but she respected and trusted her daughter to make good decisions. Even though the threat of pregnancy was greatly reduced, there were other issues, very strong issues that went along with it that she felt would be better dealt with at a later date.

The hugging, kissing and almost constant touching she was just fine with. In fact, when she had awakened at her customary five forty-five and found the two sound asleep, snuggled up on the couch she had to fight down the urge to leap up and shout Ron's victory cry. There was something that was simultaneously sweet about seeing the two of them that way and very sexy at the same time. Since it was Saturday and she didn't expect the Stoppables until seven-thirty she headed back up to the second floor, intent on waking James early.

For the long, two day drive from Colorado to Florida they rented a full-sized van. Even then, with all the luggage (what exactly did Ron pack anyway? He always wore the same thing.) they were shoe-horned fairly tightly into the vehicle. At the very get-go James and Gene took the captain and co-captain seats up front, with the wives in the first bench seat behind them so all four could take turns driving.

As expected, Jim and Tim grabbed the next seat, with the best view out the large side windows of the long-haul vehicle. It was also the best position to harass their sister, who she expected would want the very last seat anyway, hoping to be spared much of the traditional Possible Family travel festivities. It was also the best location for extended periods of snuggling with Ron.

Somehow, it didn't quite work out that way.

Kim had seemed all right when she finally came home the night before. It was still early, just after the rest of the family had supper but she assumed at the time she wanted to be home early enough to pack properly. She was chipper enough as she selected her usual summer clothes, even to the point she seemed eager to get to bed, hoping that it would somehow bring the next day on quicker. At the time it made her heart glad to see Kim so eager to go on a family vacation.

The ride started out quieter than normal. The Stoppables weren't as keen on the idea of singing camp songs and various variations of 99 Bottles, so the ride quickly turned into a running, spirited conversation, with the twins spending much of their time fiddling with some gadget they had started on the night before.

About a hundred miles into the drive Anne finally looked back. Things had been so quiet back there she expected to see Kim and Ron sacked out, snuggled together in the back seat. Instead Kim had her head against the window, staring vacantly out at the landscape. Ron was leaning on the back of Tim's seat, looking extremely sour.

Somehow she tore her eyes away from the sight, telling herself the bond between the two was too strong. It must have been a fight. They had them before, they would again. Normal people sometimes have disagreements. It was only natural.

Wasn't it?

Kim gave up trying to get to Ron after about an hour of driving. She hoped that the light of day would have dulled his anger toward her. Instead, with the exception of a customary kiss hello that morning, he had not even let her touch him. She tried everything she knew, from hooking a finger through his belt loop, touching the small of his back, even putting her hands dangerously high on the top of his leg. She even dared the mockery of her brothers, who instinctively sensed the tension between the two and turned their attention elsewhere.

This isn't what she envisioned for this part of the trip. She assumed Ron would do what he normally did, making his way to the front of the van to join in with the usual singing and other carrying on that usually marked such journeys. She was also looking forward to some light cuddling and comfy napping with him in the back of the van.

Instead, every time she tried to touch him he just shrugged her off, wrapping himself up in a shell of anger.

By the time they stopped for lunch, she was ready to do something about it.

"Come on, Ron" she said as he made to sit down at a table with his parents.

She led him to a two seat table and sat him down, taking the chair across from him for herself. "Look, Ron, I know why you're upset with me and you've got every right to be, but you're going to ruin this trip not only for the two of us but for everybody in both our families if you don't snap out of this."

"What am I supposed to do, change the way I feel, act like none of this matters to me?"

"No, but this isn't you. You've never held a grudge in your life, save for real jerks like Monkey Fist or Gill."

"Kim, I can't get past the fact you lied to me."

"Ron, I didn't lie."

"Then how come I didn't know the truth, the whole truth?"

Kim put her fork down on her tray, all interest in her salad lost for the moment. "Ron, we go into all kind of sitches where all three of us get into danger. I still don't know how Rufus managed to swallow that chip, but he did. I tried the best I could and in the end he came out okay."

"But why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because you and the fam were in Paris at the time, having a good vacation. If I told you what was going on all you would have done was worry. That wouldn't have done anyone a bit of good."

"But what about when I got back home."

She reached out and put her hands over his, which were still gripping his silverware but hadn't made any move toward his food. "If there's anything I should really be sorry for, it's that. I admit it, I should have told you then, but I didn't. I'm sorry, what more do you want me to say? I learned a lesson again that I should have learned that one Halloween in our Sophomore year.

"Besides, I don't want to spend this whole trip looking out the window at endless interstate. I want to spend that time holding hands, napping snuggled up together, sneaking kisses when our parents and my brothers aren't looking."

"Kim, it's not like you can kiss me and make what I'm feeling go away."

"Ron, you're not listening to me. I don't intend to kiss it like a boo boo. I want to kiss you because I want to kiss you, period. I love you so much and part of that make me want to show it to you that way. I can't do that if you wall me off like this." She rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand. His fingers tightened on hers.

"KP, I want that too. I just don't want there to be any lies between us. Not about something as important as Rufus or anyone else in our family."

Kim looked up and met his eyes, the full weight of the last word he said hitting her. He said family, not families. It may have been just a slip of his tongue, but she somehow knew even if it was it came out because that's what he believed. The three of them, Ron Rufus and Kim, were a family, even without fancy jewelry, nice printed documents and elaborate ceremony to say so.

"Ronnie, I just want you to tell me. I've said I'm sorry, but now I want to know if you can forgive me?"

"Kim…KP, how can I not. I mean, you've done worse to me in the past, though you didn't intend to. It just, well, I've got to work through some hurt when something like this happens." He looked like he might be on the verge of breaking into tears but instead he snickered slightly. The snicker became full-on giggles forcing him to close his eyes to keep from breaking out into laughter.

"What's so funny?" She asked, a little perturbed at him about it.

"KP, think about it. I think I'm thousands of miles away from you, I'm missing you and Rufus like nobody would believe and there you are, not twenty feet away from me and I didn't even know it. Not to mention, who else in the world but us would have the luck that you would be right there, facing the camera with Doof at the very exact moment that picture was taken." He started honestly laughing, making squeaking sounds as he tried keeping it in. She found herself giggling along with him as the utter absurdity of the whole thing sunk in finally.

By the time they recovered Ron noticed his stomach rumbling noticeably. Unfortunately, the rodent in question had already made his way through his food. Kim shot Rufus a baleful glare but the little guy just shrugged before heading back to his pocket.

"Rufus, buddy, you've got to learn to leave some for me."

"Don't worry, baby." Kim stuck her fork down in her salad and held a sizeable chunk of spicy chicken out for Ron to eat. He hungrily nipped the proffered meat, chewing greedily as she had a few bites of the vegetables. They ended up sharing the whole salad that way, Kim making him eat a few of the greens along with the chicken. They finished with Kim dabbing some dressing schmutz from his lips with her napkin.

She leaned over toward him. "First chance we get, we flake on the 'rents and get some us time." She said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"You're on." He replied, leaning closer for a tiny kiss.

Anne felt a great deal better as the left the parking lot a little while later. She hadn't overheard their conversation, but as they climbed back into the van they were once again holding hands, snuggling very close together in their seat, Ron taking the window this time and Kim leaning up against him, putting her head on his shoulder. _Maybe they just needed a good meal in them_ she thought.

By the time they pulled onto the interstate, the twins got started up.

"Oh gross…" one of them said, "…they're kissing!" finished the other.

James and Jean looked back, craning their necks to see their beloved children, both of them giving the 'hairy eyeball' expression. Anne just looked at Gene, who was taking his turn at the wheel. He just had a smug smile that mirrored her own.

Cupping her husband's chin in her hand, she gently turned him back toward the front, giving him a look that said _let those two alone_.


	22. Part XXII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXII**

* * *

Fort Summerdell certainly looked different from their last trip there. It had transformed from a round-the-clock spring break party populated mostly by eighteen to twenty-somethings into a somewhat sleepy family resort town. It was still crowded when they arrived late the next afternoon but the crowd of kids had been balanced out with a far greater number of smaller children being escorted by their parents.

It certainly was quieter.

Kim and Ron were sitting on a park bench on the boardwalk, Kim using a napkin to clean the last bit of chili-cheese footlong from Ron's face. In an impromptu display of kitschy couple's play they bought one of the beach-resort treats and started on it from either end, meeting somewhere in the middle, both of them almost collapsing in laughter when they realized how hard it was to kiss with mouthfuls of hot dog. Not that they didn't try.

"I thought it was going to be so hard to get away from your parents." Kim said, balling the napkin up.

"I thought so too, but there's no way I'm getting dragged to something called the _Opry Stampede_, especially the way your parents were dressed."

Kim shuddered. "I just hope nobody I know sees them."

"I know. Country line dancing? Ew much?"

"Still hungry?" She leaned in, gently rubbing the tip of her nose with his.

"I thought you knew me by now." Putting the paper tray and napkins sitting between them out of the way he slid right up next to Kim, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. They kissed for a long time, not caring that both of them now had chili and onion breath. She put her hand on the side of his neck, pulling him even closer, enjoying the kiss. Even with hundreds of people milling about them, it was the most private one they had been able to have since leaving Middleton yesterday morning.

Ron got over their fight very quickly but, just as they had sensed that before it wasn't the time to pester the two, once they resumed their smooching and hand holding the twins were relentless. Ron managed to shut them up temporarily with a warning about what would happen when the two of them got older and started bringing girlfriends home. The thought of actually kissing girls shocked the two into silence long enough for them to have a nice cuddly nap.

Kim broke the kiss finally after several false stops. She kept leaning in to kiss him again and again, not quite wanting to stop. Their relationship had opened a floodgate of physical affection the two of them never realized they were capable of. Both of them had gone from almost never kissing or getting kissed to a state of almost never getting enough of it.

"Ronnie, where exactly did you learn to kiss like that?" she smiled impishly at him. The late afternoon sun was starting to make everything look golden, especially his corn colored hair.

"I have no idea, KP. You're almost the only person to ever kiss me on the lips. You are the only one who kissed me and meant it."

"Oh, and who else exactly has been kissing you?" She eyed him warily, though not seriously.

"Uh, well…heh, heh."

"Ron." Kim's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Okay, well, there was Bonnie…"

"BONNIE!" Kim shrieked. "Just how in the HELL could you actually kiss her?"

"It was more like she was kissing me, but I did kind of dig it."

"Oh, gross! Ron, how could you…ug, your lips touched hers and I've been kissing them? Wait a minute, she was kissing you? That so did not happen."

"Believe me, KP, the Bon-Bon couldn't keep her hands off 'The Ron.'"

Then it clicked in her head. 'The Ron' was what he called himself while he flashed great piles of cash around the school after Bueno Nacho sent him his first royalties check. Bonnie had pretty much thrown herself at him, in love not with Ron but with the money and whatever she could tease and seduce him into buying for her, like the ruby belt buckle she asked for at Jimmy Ding's Bling-Bling store.

"Ron, please tell me kissing is all she tried with you when you had that money."

"Mostly. Yeah, she just kissed me…mostly."

"Mostly? Spill."

"Kim, a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

A little 'eep' sound escaped his lips as two small but strong hands took up positions at his waist, poised to tickle him into submission.

"Ron, I'm giving you to the count of three."

"Okay, okay! I'll just say that her personality that week was the only thing fake about her."

"Huh?" Her confusion lasted only a moment until she noticed his gaze drop from her eyes to a lower point. "No, please for the love of all that's good, tell me you haven't seen her before you even get a chance to see me."

"No, no, nothing like that, Kim. She just got all huggy with me and, well, she kinda mashed herself against me and I noticed things."

"Do tell." She said, a little ice creeping into her voice.

"Hey, don't blame me, I'm a guy, it's what we do. Besides, I've seen you…once."

"When did…oh, that doesn't count. You saw me with my eyes in a mirror. It won't count until you see me with your own eyes."

"Oh, so when does that happen."

"You're the one who wants to wait."

"Oh, come on, KP, just a peek."

She swatted away his probing finger again, still trying to fight off the mental image of Bonnie Rockwaller showing him the goods, his tongue hanging halfway down to his belt. Just how far was that…witch willing to go to part him from some of that money?

Shoving that thought out of her mind, she did the best thing she could think of to change the subject. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she mashed her own body up against his. She was wearing a (parent approved) bikini top and cut-off shorts (short, but not quite 'Daisy Dukes') and Ron was wearing a Hawaiian flower shirt, completely unbuttoned. The flesh to flesh contact gave both of them tingles. By the time they broke that kiss up they realized it was starting to get dark.

"We miss more sundowns that way." Ron commented, watching the last vestiges of the sun sinking on the horizon.

Kim turned to face the fading sun, gripping his hand firmly. "What did you think about last night?"

"What about it? It was just a bit freaky."

"Freaky? Not exactly how I would describe it."

"Well, I would have never expected our parents to be okay with the two of us sharing a bed like that."

"What, with the Tweebs in the other bed just waiting for us to do something they could both mock and report to our parents? That really was no big."

He grinned, thinking about the whole sitch. The motel had exactly three rooms left and it would have taken another hour to reach the next one. Two of the rooms were singles, the third a double, so the kids were all piled into the double while the parents took the two singles.

"Yeah, considering how they reacted to us kissing each other good night, maybe it was lucky I spent the night on top of the covers. Otherwise their imaginations would have run wild. Still, I think it would have been funny if we'd started jumping up and down on the bed to make the mattress squeak and started going, ooh, ah, oh Kim, that's sooooo good…stuff like that."

"Ron, you are so…evil sometimes. Are you sure we didn't get all the Zorpox out of you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Kimberly Anne Possible…Booyah-HAHAHAHAHAH!"

She punched him lightly in the stomach with her free hand. Then she kissed him again, feeling even more private as darkness fell, their bench situated between the streetlights lining the boardwalk.

"I was actually talking about the dreams we had last night." She said in a whisper, squeezing his hand tightly.

"Yeah, that was weird, but it was definitely more fun than dreaming about our ancestors. I still hate we both woke up when we did."

"I'm just glad the Tweebs were sound asleep, if I said any of the things I did in my dream…" Both of them shuddered. "This time, though, there were enough differences I think we were just thinking about the same thing and some hormones took over."

"I don't know, Kim, do you think somebody's trying to tell us something?"

"What, that we're ready after all?" she started getting a little nervous about the direction their conversation was taking, but not too much so. Over the last months their physical attraction was growing stronger, along with what looked like the beginnings of a true growth spurt for Ron. He quite literally was two inches taller than her now, meaning her prediction on their first date was actually coming true. Coupled with the fact that he was also filling out ever so slightly, especially across the chest, Kim's 'perfect boyfriend' was slowly turning into a hottie as well. The thought of being totally intimate with him was often tucked just off to the side in her mind, a pleasant fantasy she maintained, the real and honest desire she felt for him an integral part of her love for him.

"Ron, I'll be honest with you. If you wanted to, I would too, but I'm perfectly fine waiting like we talked about. What you said about us being on fire and likely to burn out is really true. We almost let…well, I almost let things get out of control for a while. If feel if we took that step it might change things between us, just like the way you felt going together would change our friendship."

"But I was wrong then, KP. If anything, this has made us closer. I understand now that if we hadn't…did you say going together?"

"Ronnie, I think just saying we're dating sounds, well, not enough. Going together is what my parents called it, kind of like an eighties hip term for going steady."

"That sounds like you want to wear my class ring on a chain when we get them this fall."

"You mean I'm not?"

"Aw, man, and I wanted to wear my badge of Seniorness next year." He mock pouted.

She pulled his chin down toward her, kissing him gently. "I'll let you wear it for a little while, but I think wearing your ring is a better 'I'm taken' mark than hickeys." For emphasis she nibbled very lightly on his neck. Not enough to leave a mark, but he got her point.

"I never would have thought you would want to advertise like that."

"Me either. Guess you don't know what you want until you've got it."

"Have I told you I love you lately." He said, returning the gentle nibble.

"You know, I think it's been a couple days but I love you too." She let go of his hand, wrapping both arms around his waist for another long, loving kiss. Afterwards she glanced around. Nobody seemed to be paying them the least bit of attention. The crowd had thinned out considerably and there were at least two more couples nearby enjoying the warm, Florida night the same way they were. She wriggled a finger under the flap of his shirt, sticking it just inside the band of his board shorts. He wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her so tightly it was almost hard to breath.

"Kim, I don't think we're out of control. I've been thinking about this and I think I really am ready."

She leaned back, looking into his brown eyes. His grin, which had always seemed so silly in the past, so goofy, just seemed full of love now. She returned the smile, not a wicked, seductive grin like she used when they were talking dirty, but a loving smile. Then she buried her face against his chest, squeezing him back with all her strength.

His body drank in the warmth of her skin pressed up against his. He stroked her hair, a pleasant drowsiness coming over him, replacing the nervousness he had felt up till he managed to say it. He wanted her, all of her and it set his whole body aglow to know she felt the same way in return.

If only there was some way for them to accomplish this with the entirety of both families there to keep a close eye on them.


	23. Part XXIII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXIII**

**

* * *

**The last time Kim and her family had been to Florida, they all spent the three nights there at Nana's apartment. Five extra people in a home made for one person and one guest was not a recipe for comfort. At the time it was practical, since the majority of the time Anne and James were there was spent helping her unpack the belongings they brought down from Middleton, a process slowed slightly when Kim found herself on the trail of Drakken once more. All too soon it had been time to leave and even that was interrupted by a mission. 

During their drive, James kept hinting at a great surprise when they got there, a boast he mentioned even more frequently after their slightly uncomfortable motel stay at the halfway point of the journey. None of the four kids knew what they meant by that since they were all worn out from riding in the van all day and slept through the night. At least Kim and Ron did, disappointing the twins who donned homemade night vision goggles to spy on the couple. An all-night make-out session was not in the cards.

It was close to six when they pulled into town. The trip seemed to drag on forever for the teens, who were used to far faster means of transport than the highways. They were all a little shocked when they drove straight through, passing all the large hotels lining the beaches. They finally pulled up to a nice but fairly non-descript building standing roughly twenty stories high. A guard shack passed them through as James displayed his ID.

The suite they were shown to had to be the largest they had ever seen. It turned out it was actually owned by the Space Center, intended to house high level executives when they were down there conducting business at the Cape. It consisted of a large common room with lots of overstuffed couches, a small kitchen and a patio that had access to the pool. There were two master bedrooms and three smaller rooms.

Tim and Jim started on the couple almost immediately. "Score! We each get…" Jim said. "…a room to ourselves!" Tim finished, high-fiving his brother.

"So, how does that leave enough room for the rest of us?" Ron asked, mentally counting the rooms as their parents toted their luggage into the larger rooms.

"Isn't it obvious, the love-birds will have their own room...together…ooh la-la." They singsonged in unison. Kim's face flushed red and Ron actually gulped as her Father put down his bags and wandered over toward them.

"Okay, boys, enough of that. The two of you will take that last room with the twin beds, Ronald will take the middle room and Kimmie that one. I don't want to hear any more about that, your sister is a respectable young lady and Ron is a gentleman, you got that?"

"Yes sir." They chorused.

"Come on." Tim said to his brother, "Let's get unpacked and see if we can build a tide generator."

"Hick-a-bick-a-boo?" Jim started.

"Hoo-sha." Tim answered.

"Now boys, don't get too far away, the show at the dinner theater is at eight!"

Kim and Ron were so glad they had begged off going to that. Sharing footlongs, making out on the boardwalk, feeding each other funnel cakes and making secret plans seemed a far better way to pass their time the first partial day of their vacation.

The suite was dark and deserted when they returned. It was only around nine-thirty but they had already learned with a quick call to Wade the show everyone else had gone to only ran till ten, meaning they would all likely be back within the next hour. Eager as they both were to put their plans into motion the last thing they wanted to do was lose track of time and get caught.

Ron was not so easily put off. He had flipped completely from 'waiting mode' to 'ready to go' since they came to their decision. In fact, his hands were at 'full speed ahead' the moment the door latched.

"Ron, come on, we're going to get caught."

"I can't help it, KP. Your badical body is driving me wild." His hands clamped onto her backside, trying to pull her toward him.

"Down, boy. They're going to be back soon and they're all going to be amped for a couple hours yet. You're just going to have to cool your jets. Now, here's the plan. I'm a lot better at you at being sneaky, so…"

You know what they say, best laid plans and all that jazz.

Kim was right about the rest of the fam being all wound up. It took until way past midnight for everybody to settle down.

Ron lay in his bed, already 'dressed' for the occasion. He put his arms behind his head, patiently waiting for the door to silently open, revealing a goddess with red hair, ready to climb into his embrace. The pleasant fantasies playing themselves out in his mind relaxed him, to the point he finally dozed off.

In her room, Kim snored softly, another day of travel taking its toll on her as she waited in vain for everyone else to fall asleep.

Nobody quite understood how they could be so irritable before breakfast after such a good night of sleep.

* * *

The next night they put their plan into motion again. Kim had already checked the door. If she was careful with the latch it would make no discernable sound. As the clock winked to two am she slipped out of her bed. She briefly considered changing into just a long t-shirt but decided it was better to sneak over to Ron's room in her usual sleepwear, just in case this didn't work. 

Purely from memory she made her way from her room to his. Making no sound she let herself in, crossing the room to his bed. The mattress squeaked ever so slightly as she climbed up onto it, waking her dozing boyfriend.

He reached up and turned a lamp on low. He had the sheets pulled up to his waist, so she didn't know what he had on underneath. Carefully, so they wouldn't make too much noise with the bed, she climbed on top of him, putting her hands on his chest, slowly swirling the light blonde down of his fair chest hair.

Even with her old sweat pants on she could feel his body under her. Leaning down she started kissing him voraciously, consuming him much the same way he did food, her hunger taking over as her hips started moving of their own accord.

The moment had finally come. She was ready and so was Ron. His hands rested on her hips, slowly starting to push down her pajama bottoms. Sitting up she reached for the bottom of her old purple crop top. There was nothing underneath and she was ready for him to see her with his own eyes, not just a then-unwanted but necessary peek when they had switched bodies.

Before the top could move an inch a soft but insistent sound reached them.

_Beep-beep-de-beep._

"Oh my God! It's going to wake everyone up!" Kim whispered, rolling off Ron.

"Go-go-go!" He harshly whispered back.

Kim managed to get back to her room by the third ring. Fortunately nobody had ventured out of their rooms yet to investigate.

"Go Wade." Kim said as she activated the Kimmunicator, not even trying to conceal the icicles in her voice.

"Whoa, what's got you tweaked."

"I'm not tweaked." She growled.

"O…kay. Anyway, there's been a break-in at a top secret lab in Miami and GJ knew you were in the area. They should have a hoverjet there to pick you up in twenty."

"I'm on it." She signed off, reaching for the suitcase with her mission gear.

_Dammit, I wanted to be on Ron!_ She thought as she slipped on her black top.

* * *

The two lovers walked into the suite after a long day of sunbathing, swimming and carnival rides at the small amusement park, Ron's hands still at her waist trying to get some tickles in, causing Kim to duck and weave. They stopped in their tracks when they realized the whole place was empty. 

There was a note on the coffee table.

_Kim,_

_Ron's parents signed up for a couple's catamaran cruise, so they are going to be gone overnight. Jim and Tim talked us into a beach camping retreat that requires being accompanied by a parent so your mother and I are taking them. Jean made you some dinner, it's in the fridge. Behave yourselves and have a good time._

_Dad_

_P.S. – Ronald, don't forget how close we are to the cape!_

They looked at each other, stunned at the turn of events. They had the suite all to themselves if they wanted, practically all night. Apparently neither set of parents had any clue what they had been trying to accomplish over the past couple nights. Either that, or Kim's father and Ron's mother had been bamboozled by their respective spouses, though they couldn't imagine Kim's mother actively facilitating such an intimate occasion.

Ron looked at her and wagged his eyebrows, using a mock suave voice. "Shall it be your place or mine?" He held an arm out for his lady.

Instead of taking his arm she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him fiercely, grabbing his backside and squeezing hard with one hand, the other holding the back of his head, playing with his short, blonde hair. "My room is closer." She whispered, breaking the kiss only long enough to do so.

She broke away from him, taking his hand, leading him to the room. Stopping at the door she kissed him again. "Wait here, I'm going to get ready."

_Oh, I'm so ready right now_ was all he could think as she closed the door. _Slow down, Rondo. Gentle, romantic, that's what Kim wants._

"I'm ready." He heard her say. He opened the door and walked in.

Kim was already in the bed, the covers pulled up to her chin. "Ronnie, turn the lights off."

"Aw, man, I wanted to see you."

"Please." She pleaded, her voice having abruptly changed from love kitten to nervous little girl in the space of time it took for her to get undressed and cover up.

He clicked the light off, leaving almost no light to see by. The moon had gone dark and the room faced the ocean, the stars not providing much illumination. Kim wanted it to be dark, that meant everything would be by touch. He slipped his shorts off, carefully getting into the other side of the bed in just his boxers.

Ron put his head back on the pillow, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel Kim's body heat beside him in the bed, assuming she was naked under the covers. Her purple summer outfit had been lying in a pile, along with her underwear. As far as he knew she hadn't brought any lingerie. He didn't even know if she owned any and didn't think it was likely, considering her father.

Where moments ago he had been kissing her, ready to take their love to the next level, now he found himself frozen in place. All he had to do was slip the last bit of clothing he had on off and reach for her and she would be his. Tentatively he slid his hand toward her. He found her hand and she gripped his tightly.

Kim lay there, on her back, only a sheet and comforter covering her, the only thing between her and her love two tightly gripped hands. Her mind and her body kept telling her _I'm ready_ but somehow her heart wasn't sure and it was paralyzing her. She kept playing her dreams back in her mind, remembering how his embrace felt, wanting, craving that fantasy.

Yet something else held her back, keeping her rooted to that spot on the bed. It wasn't strong. She knew that once Ron reached for her she would give herself to him fully, their union would be fulfilled.

They lay like that, side by side, only their hands touching for what seemed like forever, neither one willing or even able to make the first move.

"Ronnie?"

"Yeah, KP?"

"I'm scared."

"Me too."

"I know I shouldn't be. We're ready. I love you, I want you."

"I feel the same way…but…I don't know, KP. This is going to change things. The last thing I want to do is hurt you."

"Ron, it's not about the pain. I know it's supposed to hurt…"

"I don't mean that, Kim, I mean…if we…make love…who knows what we're going to feel like."

"They say it makes up complete." She said, staring at the ceiling.

"KP, I'm already complete being with you, but, I don't know, something tells me I should be feeling guilty about this."

"Why? Neither one of us is forcing or pressuring the other to do this. It's love, pure love."

"For us, yes. I just can't help feeling like we're getting away with something here."

Kim blinked twice in the darkness. She was amazed that Ron was the first to put into words what she was feeling. It was like they had both completely forgotten something very important they had decided already.

They were about to embark on something that was very adult and even though the two of them had been put into many, many sitches where they had to display maturity well beyond their years they still were not adults. They weren't even quite seventeen yet and there they were about to do something that could even result in them becoming teenaged parents. Sure, she was on birth control, but that wasn't one hundred percent. There was always the chance of an accident. Adult consequences to adult acts.

That didn't even account for the emotional baggage that would most likely come with this. Stir in the guilt of literally defying their parents and it would be a recipe for disaster.

"This is a mistake, isn't it?" Ron asked finally.

"Yeah. It didn't seem like it out there on the boardwalk, but now…"

"What do you want to do?"

She squeezed his hand tightly. "Get up and get dressed, then I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Mission scrubbed?"

"No, plan B. I'm still going to spend the night with you, but it's going to be kissing and cuddling." She clicked the light on, carefully holding the covers up to her chin as Ron got up. She watched him dress, never having taken his under shorts off, obviously feeling the same way, at least subconsciously.

Ron closed the door behind him, simultaneously relieved and disappointed. His body was raging at him, but his heart was at peace. Silently he made his way back to the couch. Moments later Kim emerged, dressed once more in her purple outfit, though she was now barefoot.

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her fiercely. "I love you so much, KP."

"I love you the same way, Ronnie. Are you disappointed?"

"Part of me is."

"Which part?"

"You know. I think we did the right thing. When we're really ready, we'll know. It'll happen and we'll be the happiest people in the universe."

She brushed at his hair then gave him another good squeeze before sitting down with him. She turned on the lamp at the side table so she could see his eyes. That's when she first noticed the sound.

Rain was beating against the large picture windows. A large storm had rolled in off the Atlantic and was pounding the coast, sheets of rain falling.

_Perfect weather for snuggling – and an iced latte_, she thought.

About that moment the front door opened, admitting a damp sextet of vacationers. Tim and Jim marched toward their room, the dark clouds above their heads mirroring the night time storm outside. Ron's parents were close behind, though they weren't quite as wet as their friends. Obviously both the beach camping and the cruise had been cancelled due to the weather.

They looked at each other, their eyes communicating what they both realized. They would have been caught in the act!

"See, what did I tell you." Anne said, waving a hand at the couch-bound teens.

"You're a good man, Ronald." James said as the elder Possibles headed to their room to change out of their wet clothes. "I always knew I could trust you."

Jean smiled warmly at the two as she walked by. Gene gave them a big grin, with one eyebrow cocked slightly higher than the other.

Both teens let out a deep breath and sank into the couch.


	24. Part XXIV

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXIV**

* * *

"Rise and shine, Kimmie." 

Anne Possible pulled the blinds of her room back, letting the crystal blue morning sunlight in, the glare almost painful as she blinked back sleep. "Wha…what time is it?"

"It's just past eight. Now get up, we're going to go see Nana today." Kim could here the shower running, meaning either Ron or one of her brothers were already ahead of her, the latter probably trying to see if they actually could run out the hot water before she got in.

Kim stretched her arms, sitting Indian style in the bed while her mother made a show of tidying up the room. Unlike her parents, Kim was used to living out of a suitcase or a backpack and hadn't so much as unpacked as she simply pulled what she needed out of her luggage then stuffed it into another bag when it was dirty. It was all Anne could do to keep up with clothes on the floor. One look at Ron's room told her where she picked up that particular habit.

She sat down on the end of the bed while Kim rooted through one of her bags for an outfit for the day. "So, what Earth shattering topics kept you and Ron up till the wee early hours last night?"

"Stuff." Kim shrugged, pulling her yellow T-shirt with the blue star out, along with a pair of knee-length white shorts. She wasn't going to risk having her grandmother trying to cover up her bare midriff with a sweater on a nearly one-hundred degree day. They may have come to an understanding about her missions the last time she was here, but her choice of clothing was still under contention.

"Summer stuff, teenage stuff or couple's stuff?" Her mother asked.

"D"

"D?" she asked, confused.

"D as in 'all-of-the-above.'"

"Oh. So, what were the two of you up to before we all got back early?"

"Um, couple's stuff."

"I see." She narrowed her eyes, smiling slightly. "How long before Ron realized his t-shirt was on backwards?"

Kim's hands shot to her mouth as the tiniest "eep" squeaked out.

"Thought so. You two were careful, weren't you?"

"MOM! We didn't do anything that requires being careful." Kim's voice went from a near shriek to a hiss.

"Kimmie, when we got back last night Ron had his tank top on backwards, your hair was somewhere between where it is now and made up and your bed was a mess at ten o'clock at night. I know it was made because I did it myself. Then this morning Jean realizes that neither of you touched the dinner she made for you. That tells me Ron was either sick or too preoccupied to think of eating, and he seemed fine to me last night."

"Did Daddy see…"

"No, I think he was so relieved to see the two of you on the couch he was oblivious to all the other little clues."

"But Mom, I really mean it, we haven't done anything…we haven't done _that _yet."

Anne raised one eyebrow at her daughter. "Kim, part of me is wanting to trust you about that, the other is screaming 'bull' at me right now. The last couple days both of you have had a look in your eyes. Your father might not be able to see it, but I sure could. You two had 'next level' written all over your face. Kim, we've talked about this before. I've always told you this would be your decision. If you and Ron are having sex…"

"Mom, I call it making love, but Ron and I haven't done that."

"Then what happened to the bed?"

Kim stood up and whipped the covers back. "Nothing. We got in it for a little while, but we didn't do anything but hold hands."

"And the night before?"

"Mom!"

"Kim, I know you went to his room. So just how long have you two been…"

"Have you listened to a thing I've said Mom? We're still virgins…period. Ron hasn't even gotten to second base, depending on what version of that you know."

"What version do you know?"

Kim shrugged. "I think it's top, inside, but I'm not really sure. Everyone I've ever heard it from has another version."

"That sounds about right to me. There's something you're still not telling me."

She sighed, sensing her mother was not about to let go. She sensed her quarry and was moving in for the kill. "Mom, none of this can leave this room."

"Honey, I swear to you, this is just between you and me and you and Ron. You just have to be honest with me."

Kim took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out before she continued. "We've come close to making love three times now. Actually it's five, but I'm counting the last three nights as one. The first two times were clearly mistakes and it was actually Ron who backed down. We talked about it a lot after that, especially since we almost broke up the second time."

"That was the end of the school year, wasn't it."

"Yes. This time we came to a mutual decision, but we just didn't have the right opportunity. The first night here we were just too tired and we both fell asleep, then the night before last we got a mission call before we, you know. Then last night we got so far as getting into bed."

"What happened? I can't imagine Ron having problems at his age."

"No, Mom, I've snuggled with him enough to know he doesn't have any problems. No, we quite literally chickened out at the last minute. Ron didn't even get his boxers off."

"But you did?"

"Sort of. I made him wait outside while I got in bed. Mom, I'm telling you the truth, we both got so scared all we did was hold hands for a while until we could admit it to each other." She started sounding defensive as her mother's eyes got big as saucers.

"No, I believe you honey, it's just…history is repeating itself. I won't go into any more details but that's exactly what I made your father do."

"Okay, Mom, you can stop there. Bumping up against TMI territory."

"Allright. Now, is this what the two of you pulled the late-nighter about?"

"Some. I think we've said all that needs to be said about this for now."

"Until the 'romance' sweeps you away again?"

"Something like that, but I think after this experience we have a better handle on why we're waiting now, instead of some abstract 'you shouldn't' sort of deal. You're not mad at us, are you?"

"Actually, no. The only thing that bothers me is the sneaking around, but I can put that off to wanting privacy, and there's nothing wrong with that. There is, of course, your father to think of and unlike me he doesn't think this is a decision you're ready to make on your own. I think if it were up to him, he'd be glad if they changed the law and made twenty-one the legal age, but you're still his little girl and, technically, he does have a say-so in this…but no, I'm not angry, in fact I'm proud of you. Whichever way you went about this, it was a decision the two of you made without one forcing the other. Then when you realized it was wrong for you the same thing happened again. That tells me somewhere along the line your father and I did something right, as did the Stoppables."

Kim listened again, hearing only her brothers and her father in the other room. There was no sign of Ron or his parents.

"Where's Ron?" she asked, finally getting off the bed and looking out in the main room.

"Your father got them an all-day tour of the Cape. They left about an hour ago. Don't forget, this is their family vacation too. If you're serious about Ron the way you say you are, there will be plenty of times the two of you can get away on your own, don't begrudge them this. Pretty soon both of you will turn seventeen and I have a sneaking suspicion that by next summer the two of you will go out on your own."

"Daddy's going to freak if we do that."

"I'll work on him. I think if you continue to prove to him he can trust you two, everything will be just fine. Now I think it might be a good thing for you to spend time just with us, especially your father today."

"I will Mom, I promise."

Anne got up off the foot of the bed and picked something up from the nightstand. "You should call Wade too and tell him you're leaving this here in your room. He knows how to get in touch with you if it's really important."

"But how will he find me? The GPS tracking chip in the Kimmunicator is how he knows where I am at any given time."

"Ron has a tracking chip, doesn't he?"

"Yes. That's something we talked about last spring when he finally figured it out. Wade says It's about the size of a grain of rice. It's supposed to be located on the back of his neck."

"Ow, how did…"

"It was put in his food. The chip is programmed to move into position. How it does it, I don't care to think about."

"So, Wade's got Ron chipped and he totally relies on the Kimmunicator to keep track of the most important member of Team Possible?"

"Mom, I'm not the most…what are you saying?"

Anne walked over to her daughter, pulling up her long hair, examining the edge of her hairline. "I can't feel anything back there, but it may be just deep enough to be invisible without a more sophisticated scan."

"Mom, you've had them do MRIs on me before after a rough mission."

"Yes Kim. It's there. I saw it the first time a couple years ago when Shego first knocked you unconscious."

Kim sat back down on the end of the bed, her eyes flitting around like she was searching the floor for something.

"Doesn't feel good, does it."

"I…I don't know. Why didn't I figure that out, it's so obvious."

"Well, since you knew about Ron's chip, you don't have much of a right to be angry at Wade yourself."

"Mom, my brain tells me why I'm not supposed to be mad. I understand the logic, it's just…why wouldn't Wade just up and tell me."

"Honey, with all the brains that boy has, he's still eleven years old. He may know how to build any electronic gadget any one of us could think of, but there are certain things that take wisdom and experience. Do you need to have a nice, long talk with him, yes, but don't go in angry. Let him learn from this. Now, get dressed. I want to get to that buffet for once without having to make the twins run interference on Ron so the rest of us can get to it."

She started walking out of the room, stopping to pat the top of a small jewelry box on the dresser. "I know the two of you are going to hold off, but don't forget this. You're still young and sometimes things get out of hand."

"I won't forget, Mom. Thanks."

Cringing slightly as she opened the box. She had indeed missed a day, forcing her to double up today. She pulled a multivitamin out so she would have a good excuse to get a glass of water to take her meds with and headed for the kitchen, hoping the Tweebs hadn't wiped out the pitcher of juice again.

How had she forgotten? That hadn't happened in almost two years!

_We sure did make a good decision last night_ she thought as she downed them.

* * *

Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney


	25. Part XXV

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXV**

**

* * *

**An "All-day" tour of the Kennedy Space Center, if it had come even a year earlier would have utterly thrilled the one-time "Rocket Booster." Instead, Ron became bored very quickly listening to the guide prattling on about the NASA space program and their achievements. Compared to what the Middleton Space Center had done, it all seemed so backwards and primitive. 

Then too, this was something he usually shared with Kim. Yes, he knew this was supposed to be family time, but they didn't even get to the Cape before he was thinking about her, wanting to at least be near her. Even though they had mutually agreed to back down last night he still felt closer to her than ever before.

Ron was getting better at thinking logically and his rational mind said that physically being apart like they were at that moment was not truly a bad thing, that the way they felt for each other was so strong that they were as together apart as they were if they were physically joined. That was all fine and good, but he still found himself wishing he was with her. Every moment they had together seemed to fly by like it was standing still. Their vacation, not just this trip but their whole summer together was rocketing by. In just over a month their senior year would begin and who knew what that would bring. They certainly wouldn't have as many classes together. Kim was taking several college level courses, classes Ron didn't even come close to qualifying for. They would have less and less time together as time went on. Even if by some miracle he got into college, it seemed highly unlikely they would attend the same school, let alone have classes together.

All that made him very jealous of their time together this first summer.

The day seemed to drag on forever. Ron could have recited almost verbatim what their guide was saying about each display. Rockets had always been his thing, one of the reasons he idolized Kim's father so much, but, without Kim…

He spent the entire ride back to the suite in anticipation of being reunited with her. He made no effort to hide his disappointment when he found the place empty. It seemed the Possibles were having a family dinner with Nana, leaving the Stoppables to basically fend for themselves for this particular meal.

Gene immediately camped out on the patio once they got back, reading his paper out on one of the lounge chairs.

That was enough for Ron. If they were just going to do what they did at home, then family day was over anyway.

"I'm going out." He said after changing into flip flops and his board shorts.

"Ron, come in here for a minute. I need to talk to you." His mother said from the kitchen.

She put down the utensils, trying to give him a look that was supposed to be understanding and motherly. "Ron, you think you're in love with Kim, don't you?"

"I don't think anything, Mom, I love her with all my heart…I have for a long time." He answered quickly, a little taken aback by her choice of words.

"I'm sure you feel that way right now, but she's always been such a good friend to you, I think you might be confusing those feelings for romantic feelings."

"No, I'm not confused. I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to a lot of things, but this I'm sure about. Kim's my best friend _and_ my girlfriend. Both. I don't think there could be one without the other."

"Ronnie, I know you think that now, but you don't have any experience with this. Kim is the only girl you have ever been around for any time, so it's perfectly natural for you to be attracted to her, but I'm afraid since she's decided to indulge in a little love-play with you that it's clouded your judgment."

"What do you mean, Mom?" he was starting to get a sinking feeling about where she was going with this.

"Kim is a very nice girl. She's been raised by very good parents and now she's finally deciding to experiment a little. She's afraid she will be hurt by boys she doesn't know as well as you, so you make a good, safe partner for her to test the waters."

"What do you mean?"

"Son, guys like she has gone with in the past want girls who have some experience. Kim was raised to be a nice girl, but she hasn't attracted the kind of boys she seems to like and I think that has something to do with it. She probably thinks that if she paired up with you it would be a lot less likely she'd get hurt."

"Get hurt, Mom, I'd never hurt her."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. She knows you are hopelessly devoted to her and even if she wasn't any good the first time you wouldn't know any better. If she went with one of those pretty boys she chases after the first time, he might not want her and she would be devastated."

"Wait a second. You mean to tell me you think Kim is just using me to get experience…doing it?"

"Yes, Ron. It pains me to tell you this, but I've seen it so many times before with popular girls like her. I'm just so afraid the way the two of you have been going at it lately that you're setting yourself up to get hurt pretty badly when she moves on."

The very thought of Kim 'moving on' was devastating to him. It was inconceivable. What they had was real, wasn't it? "Where are you getting this? Kim isn't like that at all…and you think that way about me? That she can't feel about me the way I feel about her because I'm not some pretty boy like Mankey? That all I am is some kind of tool?"

"Son, how can you explain a girl like that sleeping with you?"

"Sleeping with? Mom! We haven't…even if we were, did it ever occur to you that maybe she found out that running around with those empty headed creeps was wrong for her and maybe I was the one she wanted all along? Is it so hard to think that maybe she's in love with me? That maybe she wants to have sex with me because I'm the one who turns her on, not just as a stepping stone to some pretty boy with bleached hair? Is that all you think of _me_?" Shock was slowly starting to turn to something darker, anger boiling up from inside.

"Ronnie, you're my precious little man, but let's be realistic. You're not strong, tall and let's face it, you're not as good looking as some of these boys. And don't try to play coy with me about Kim. I know the two of you have been carrying on for quite some time. The stories do get back to me about you going parking on Logging Camp Road and the way the two of you disappear into each other's homes when we're not around. It doesn't take a genius to know the two of you have been at it since just after the prom."

Ron's hands balled up into fists, his face a mask of barely contained rage. "I…I can't believe this. First you just about tell me I'm a weak, ugly kid who doesn't deserve Kim, then you all but call me a liar to my face…yeah, we've come real close to that, but we haven't. I think I'd know pretty well if I had and let me tell you, I haven't.

"I really don't care what you say about me, Mom, but when you say things like that about Kim it hurts, hurts me really bad and not because I'm scared you might be right, but that you think so little of someone you have known just as long as I have. I love Kim. It's not buddy-love, it's not play love, it's the real deal and I know in my heart she feels the same way about me and it's not a crush, it's not a rebound and it's not just a trial run. We've talked about the future and what we want. We've talked about when we want to do things like…that and even more important things."

"Ron, you're too young to be talking about marriage."

"I know that Mom, and so do we, but that doesn't mean we can't tell each other what we want. We know we're too young for a lot of things and we've decided to put off any real decisions about that until we aren't, but we're still planning to be together for the long haul."

"But Son, have you even considered the fact you might not be together for the long haul? Yes, I do know Kim and she tends to be very flighty at times. How can you know that she won't get tired of you in a couple more months or by next year. The two of you are both going to be seniors and that means you'll be at the top of the social heap at school, but she's going to go to college after that and suddenly she's going to be a very attractive young girl around lots of older boys."

"She's not going to do that. She's better than that now."

"How do you know? Has another one of these 'hotties' shown up yet? What happens when she's got her choice of a nice looking boy who's also smart? What if he's rich? Get real…what do you have to offer her to compete with that? She's not in your league, son. Plus she's not Jewish."

The anger finally boiled over. "That's it, isn't it? It's not that I'm not good enough for her or that she's going to go after some pretty boy, it's the fact she's a Christian, isn't it. I can't believe that in this day and age people like you can be so narrow minded to think everything has to be what race, color or religion somebody is."

"Son, it does matter. She literally believes different things than you do. That's just a recipe for disaster down the road. Politics and religion can be as big a problem in relationships as money or sex."

"Mom, have you even noticed that Kim has been coming to Temple with us?"

"Yes, I've noticed that, but it's only been for you. She sits there quietly and politely because she doesn't understand what's going on, but in the end she's just putting on a show. I've also noticed you going to church with her on Sunday mornings. Does that mean one of you is converting? That's another thing I think that could be wrong. Changing your beliefs just for sex?"

"I'm not changing my beliefs, Mom! And it doesn't all boil down to just sex. Listen to me. I…love...Kim! I know she feels the same way about me and listen to yourself. You just said she goes to Temple for me. She doesn't understand half what goes on there, but she asks me about it and she's interested when I explain things to her. The same thing happens when I go to her church, though it's easier for me since they do everything in English."

He looked into her eyes. All he could see there was something that looked almost like…pity. What was there to be pitied about his love for Kim? With a low growl he stormed out of the kitchen and walked out into the hot afternoon.

Ron was too wound up to take the free shuttle to the main part of town. Instead he turned toward the beach, walking on the slightly damp sand, avoiding eye contact with any of the other beach goers. Away from the bulk of the resort hotels the beach was a lot emptier and before long he could follow the surf line easily without dodging late afternoon sunbathers.

How could she say things like that to him? Did she have so little respect for the two of them? Did It matter so much to her mother that the love of his life was a Christian?

The worst of it, however, was what if his mother was right? What if he was the 'trial-run' for Kim. Was it fear and morality that had sidetracked last night or had Kim suddenly realized she didn't want Ron? Was all that planning for the future just a way of letting him down easily?

How could he compete with other, better guys. Sure, he turned out better than that blasted Synthodrone but what did he have to offer her in the long run? He wasn't handsome, he wasn't strong and he wasn't smart. It had taken everything he had to pull himself out of the fire his Junior year, while Kim just seemed to breeze through it. What was going to happen when somebody with Josh Mankey's pretty looks and a real brain and personality showed up?

What's more, did he have any right to deny Kim that?

He puzzled over those questions as the sun sank over the western edge of the bay and the towering condo receded behind him.


	26. Part XXVI

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXVI**

**

* * *

**Kim was floating on a cloud, having just had the most magnificent day with her Nana. She had been nervous in the morning about how her usually over-protective grandmother would be about her new relationship, especially after the shock of her mother figuring out what the teens had been up to. Instead, Nana joined the growing list of people who knew what the two of them felt about each other long before either of them knew themselves. 

"Dear, what that boy did for you at Christmas, that wasn't just a friend. I saw how he looked at you and the way you looked at him before he left, and then the look in your eyes when you thought he went home without saying goodbye?

"I'll tell you another thing, Kimberly. When the two of you came down here that spring I saw something I thought very odd at first. Every time he talked about meeting one of those college girls you got angry. Then after we chased off that Drakken fellow you never again let him out of your sight at that party."

"Nana, Ron was just the only person I knew there. I wasn't jelling over him then."

"If you say so, dear, but when the party was over, who did he leave with?"

"He left with me, but that's because he was staying with us, where else would he go?"

"Maybe with one of those girls he was dancing with before you chased them off…"

"Did I really chase them off?"

"Kimberly, put yourself in their shoes. Along comes a girl more his age with a look in her eyes that says 'mine.' It's a wonder they didn't run away faster."

"I just wanted to dance with him, that's all."

It went on for some time. Shouldn't she be used to this by now? Was every single person in her life so certain the two of them were already a couple even if they weren't enjoying the nicer benefits like kissing?

_Did I really look like that_ she thought as the shuttle took them back to the suite. All she wanted to do, at least in her mind, was finally have some fun with Ron. After all, he had been striking out pretty soundly with the spring-breakers, he was due for a little fun and so was she, even if it meant partying in her mission gear.

Come to think of it, he actually had been dancing with some of those same 'artificially enhanced' girls when she finally found him. Why didn't she think of that until now that her grandmother had mentioned it? What did it matter anyway? It wasn't like he was making out with them, he was dancing with a whole group. That didn't mean anything, did it?

Christmas had been something else all-together. There had even been moments there where she really did consider what she felt for Ron. Only then she had still 'officially-well sorta' been with Josh, even though the two had absolutely no plans together over the holiday. They were still in that sort of limbo between the beginning of the 'drifting apart' and his moving on to dating Tara. Kim had so wanted to kiss Ron full on the lips then, but chickened out and just kissed him on the cheek.

In hindsight it was probably better that way. She still had some lessons to learn about love and they might not have become so close if they had recognized it then.

It was just so…spankin'…that she actually could spend the day dishing with Nana about Ron. The elder Possible was actually quite pleased with Kim's beau, a very strong endorsement considering all the tales of how she had disapproved of her mother at first. Then again, that had been her son, now this was about her granddaughter. Maybe she had mellowed over the years.

Or maybe she saw clearly just how in love the two of them were, and she hadn't even seen Ron this trip, the first time they had seen Nana since they were together.

Kim hoped Ron would agree to go see Nana with her in the morning, just the three of them for breakfast. Of course he would, Ron liked her grandmother and maybe, just maybe she would take him under her wing and start heaping her 'standard grandmothering procedures' on him. None of that had stopped. The first thing she had done this morning was to chide her about wearing tight white shorts like that. After all, what would happen if they got wet with the beach and all these pools around here? Why don't you wear a nice sun-dress?

At least she avoided any fuzzy green sweaters or frilly green dresses about a foot too short.

It was already getting dark when they got back, the sun sinking quickly into the west but Kim wasn't anywhere near ready for the day to end. Ron would be there waiting for her and they would walk, hand in hand, all the way back to the main resort for ice-cream and either a movie at the small theater or more boardwalk park bench time. She wasn't picky, either way would mean plenty of opportunity for kissing and snuggling, especially since the theater was one of the new ones with the folding armrests.

She felt a light touch on her shoulder as they crossed the lobby of the sprawling complex. She turned to see a very worried looking Jean Stoppable.

"Kim, can I talk to you in private please?"

"Sure thing Mrs. Stoppable. Is something wrong?"

They sat down at one of the couches places all around the lobby as the rest of the family went back to the suite.

"Kim, how do you love my son?"

"I'm not sure what you're asking."

"Do you see him as being a long-term boyfriend or is this something that's just for fun right now? Just how strong are your feelings for him?"

"I…I love him with my whole heart. I know it sounds kind of silly coming from somebody my age, but it's not puppy-love or just good times. I'm in it for the long-haul with him."

"So you see the two of you getting married years down the road?"

Kim found she couldn't read Mrs. Stoppable's expression, giving her no clue where any of this was headed. "It's too soon for us to say anything like that, but I really don't see why not eventually."

"Do your parents have any concerns about Ron being Jewish?"

"Why would they? It's never mattered the least little bit. It's really no different than if I were Presbyterian and he was Methodist. Mrs. Stoppable, what is going on? Is something wrong with Ron? Is there something wrong with me being Christian?"

"Kim, I think I may have said some really terrible things to Ron just a little while ago. He walked out angry and it's got me worried."

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you say?"

Jean closed her eyes for a moment, mentally trying to compose her thoughts. As best she could, she recounted the whole conversation she had with him. When she was done, Kim just sat there, stunned.

"I…I had no idea that meant so much to you."

"It didn't think it would either, until I started noticing the two of you getting closer and closer. I just never imagined that he would have a real chance with you."

Anger was welling up deep inside Kim, making it hard for her to keep her voice low in the public setting. "Listen. What I have for Ron is real. I'm not just playing him, I'm not using him. I love him and I love him for what and who he is. I'm not interested in looking for a newer, better model down the road. I've made my choice and I've given him my heart and as far as the pretty boys go, Ron is everything I want or need in a man. Maybe you just can't see that in him, but I can. He has a beautiful soul and that's what I fell for. On top of that, he's very handsome and cute and he's starting to grow into his man's body.

"I don't know if you were aware of it, but it took Ron pushing me past all that shallow crap I was mired in before to realized just how much he means to me. As far as I'm concerned we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, and if that means I have to do it without your blessing simply because I go pray to God on Sunday morning instead of Saturday, then so be it. I've learned a lot about Ron and about myself lately and it means more than that."

"Kim, please, sit down." Jean said.

Kim realized that she had risen from her seat, her fists balled up, her whole body shaking with rage. She did manage to keep her voice down but at the expense of the rest of her being coiled up like she was ready to strike the older woman down. Fighting to calm herself, she sat back down.

"Kim, you have to understand, I want what's best for my Ronnie. He's put so much of himself into this romance of yours, I just didn't want to see him hurt if you didn't feel the same way."

"Mrs. Stoppable…"

"Kim, please, call me Jean."

"Jean…" she was still fighting to slow her heart. "…everything Ron is putting into this relationship, I am too. We're serious and even if something changes in the future, in the right here and now this is the be-all and end-all of us. Believe me, I know there are going to be hard decisions to be made. Just the other night when GJ pulled us into that Miami mission I went in worried that he was going to get hurt. I mean, I always worry, but now there's a much bigger dimension to it. Now I have to worry whether concern for him is going to take my head out of the game, getting one or both of us hurt in the process, but regardless, I couldn't go on without him by my side.

"Now, I would dearly love to have you and his father's blessing, but I don't have to have that. I will respect you and I won't come to your home any more, I'll just see him when we're out or at my place, but I'd hate for it to come to that. What matters most is how I love him."

Jean nodded, a couple tears rolling down her cheek. "Kim, that's all I wanted to hear. I know I haven't been the best mother to him over the years. I guess I relied too much on your parents or something. If you say you're in this for the big picture, I'll trust you and you do have my blessing…to go steady with my Ronnie. Come to me in a few years and we'll discuss anything beyond that."

"That's a deal, Mrs.…Jean. Now, where is Ron?"

"He left a couple hours ago. He didn't take his Mole Rat or his cell phone with him, so I have no idea where he might have gotten to."

"It's okay, I think I might know where to find him." Kim said as she got up, headed for her room.

She didn't want to tell his mother about the chip, not knowing if he had ever discussed that with his family. There was also the issue of a chip secretly being implanted in her own neck. That explained how Wade was able to find her on the Prom night even though she had completely deactivated the Kimmunicator.

The blue-green device was still sitting on its charger in her room. She grabbed it up and hit the main call button. It took all of a second for Wade to appear.

"Hi Kim. You're not still tweaked about the call the other night, are you?" He asked, making an assumption about the look in her eyes.

She could feel a small weight grab the bottom of her T-shirt and scamper up onto her shoulder. Rufus was worried too, his chittering making less sense than usual.

"No, Wade. I'll…tell you about it when you get older. Right now I just need to know where Ron is."

"Are you sure? He seemed pretty upset when he told me he knew it was there."

"Wade, we both know they're there. Just find him for me, please and thank you."

"It looks like he's on the beach, about two miles north of your position. That should be about where the developed beaches end."

"Thanks, Wade. We're all going to have to sit down together and have a quiet talk about a few things."

"Uh, sure Kim. Enjoy the rest of your trip…I'll kind of keep GJ off your back as much as I can."

"You rock Wade. Bye"

She paused for a moment, looking at herself in the mirror. She had some idea what might be going through Ron's mind. The things his mother had said were so wrong, even if unintentionally. He was prone to self-doubt anyway and this might have pushed him off in a bad direction.

Kim knew she needed to make an impression on him. She wanted to let him know the moment he laid eyes on her that she was his and his alone. The yellow T-shirt wouldn't do that. In fact, she knew he didn't really like it all that much, something about the color just not suiting her. Maybe it was the fact the outfit was just a tad too modest. After all, she spent the vast majority of the year wearing a belly baring tank top, even deep into the fall when by all rights she should have been wearing sweaters under her jacket.

The temperatures were still in the high 80s even as night fell. A breeze had been blowing off the ocean as she came in, making the night rather pleasant, if warm. Full-length, tucked in t-shirts were not needed. She quickly stripped out of her clothes, changing into a much shorter, much tighter pair of shorts and slipping on one of the black jog bras she wore under her mission shirt. She ran a brush through her hair and checked her makeup, applying a little brighter red shade of lipstick than she normally wore.

Grabbing a small backpack, she stuffed a beach blanket and a flashlight in, along with her Kimmunicator. She reached into another bag, extracting a plastic cylinder about three inches across and fifteen inches long. It looked like an oversized package of tennis balls. She jammed it into the bag and headed out.

Jean had returned to the room and was talking quietly with the other three adults.

"Mom, Dad, I'm going to go meet Ron." She said as cheerily as she could.

"Okay, Kimmie-cub. Be careful and don't be too late."

Jean met her eyes. Silently she communicated with her that she might not only be late, she might not return to her room that night.

"We'll be okay, Dad." She said, closing the double door behind her, breaking out into a jog toward the beach.


	27. Part XXVII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXVII

* * *

**

Only a sliver of the new moon was showing in the sky that night, though the nearly clear skies allowed just enough starlight to make the bright sand visible that night, like a sight more familiar to the Colorado raised young man, that of a snow covered landscape at night, only not quite as intense. He left the thinning beach crowd some time ago, the distant lights of the condominium complex the only indicator that he was anywhere near civilization. The light surf of the calm night was soothing to his troubled mind.

He sensed rather than saw the approaching figure, partly because ofhis other senses, partly because he expected her. The faint smell of floral and citrus reached him, making him think simultaneously of eating those tiny oranges at Christmas and the embrace of the woman he loved.

"Let me guess. Kimmunicator…Wade…tracking chip?" He tried to meet her eyes, but in the low light he could barely make out her outline.

"In that order." Kim dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Ron's shoulders, holding him close as she kissed him. Their mouths moved as one, their tongues fencing with each other as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her down beside him on the soft, loose sand. Kim didn't resist as his hands explored her back, from the nape of her neck to the curve where her backside met her legs. She returned the favor, reaching deep up into his shirt with one hand, feeling the slight groove up the middle, gripping his shoulders tightly, loosing herself in the embrace.

"I think we're getting sand in our clothes." Ron murmured as she worked on his shoulder, intent for once on actually leaving a mark.

"I brought a blanket." She said, kissing the middle of his chest.

With as much grace as he could manage in the dark, he helped her spread the blanket out on the sand, using a couple bits of rock to weight the corners. The wind was still light so it didn't threaten to pull anything up. Ron sat back down, leaning back on his outstretched arms. Kim kneeled beside him, putting an hand on his chest, lightly caressing him, then started undoing the last few buttons of his shirt before going back to caressing him.

"Wow, KP. I was expecting a lecture for running off like that."

"Ron, I talked to your mother. She told me what she said to you and let me tell you, right now I'm pretty upset with her. She had no right to say that to you, none."

"Kim, it's alright. It's nothing new from her. She sees the world a certain way and everyone in it is supposed to play a certain part."

"That still doesn't give her the right to put you down like that."

"Well, she is right about me. I'm a plain guy who isn't too terribly bright who somehow managed to get the most badical girl in Middleton to not only date him, but she actually hunts him down for hot making out."

"Mmmm, making out and more." She leaned over him, kissing him again, her nails digging lightly into his chest.

"Um, wow, uh…wow." He said finally as she went back to lazily kneading the muscles of his chest.

"I'm a little surprised. I expected to find you brooding out here instead of just hanging out like this. Thought I had my work cut out for me."

"Instead I'm 'good to go?'"

"Ronnie, don't let Bueno Nacho hear you say that!" She kissed the tip of his nose.

"I've been out here long enough to think it over. Oh, I did my share of brooding."

"You didn't think what she said is true, do you?"

He thought a moment, letting his weight back onto the blanket, putting his hands behind his head. Kim put her head on his stomach, facing him. "I didn't want to, but something inside me made me. KP, I feel like I've got something so good with you sometimes I feel like it's too good to be true. I don't like thinking that way, but I can't help it."

"It's okay, Honey. I understand…but let me tell you something." She sat up slightly, putting both palms flat on his chest. "I've spent almost thirteen years getting to this point. I've had to learn some hard lessons along the way. One of those lessons is to listen to my heart. Yes, I've gone all to pieces over eye candy like Josh or a couple of the Oh Boyz. I learned that's all they are, just pretty faces. Josh wasn't for me and while the others have some potential, they've got a long way to go before they're in my league.

"Ron, I'm in love. I'm not play-acting to put a notch in my bedpost. I'm not using you as a stepping stone to bigger and better boyfriends. You are not plain looking. You are truly beautiful and every time I see you I'm reminded how much I want to be with you and how lucky I am to have a best friend and lover all wrapped up in one man." For emphasis she sat up and kissed him again on the chest, working her way up to his neck and then his mouth. Her hair fell all around their heads, creating a faint red halo around them in the starlight. She crossed one leg over his, letting her sandals slip off, rubbing his calf with hers.

His hands started exploring her again, this time lingering longer on the more rounded part of her back. She didn't protest, instead wriggling just a little under his touch, letting out a tiny little moan of pleasure.

"Ronnie, I can't describe how good that make me feel." She purred.

"I think I might have sort of an idea." He squeaked as she started in on his neck again.

"I'm so glad you're not as upset about what she said as I thought you would be." She traced swirling patterns on his chest, leaning on her elbow.

"Well, I'll let you know a secret."

"What's that?"

"While I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself, I started thinking about all those things we like to do and that reminded me that you like doing them as much as I do. So, in a way, you saved me again."

"Saved by a girl, huh? What's that going to do to your reputation?"

"Depends on who catches us." He grinned, forgetting she wouldn't be able to make out the expression.

"Oh my God, I haven't told you yet." She gasped, sitting up on her haunches.

"What, what is it?" He asked, suddenly worried.

"Mom knows."

"Knows?"

"She knows everything that's happened the last few nights."

"Everything?" He squeaked. "What, did she see us or something."

"No, Ron, she's not dumb. I didn't even realize it, but she noticed your shirt was on backwards last night, plus a couple other things.

"Kim, my shirt stayed on until we went to bed and it was definitely not on backwards or inside out or anything. What else did she say she saw?"

"Well, she said my hair was messed up and that my bed wasn't made and she knew I snuck into your room."

"Oh boy." He sighed. "KP, for one thing, your hair was a mess because of the wind. You weren't in the bed long enough to get bed head. For another, your door stayed closed until we said goodnight. She was long gone to her room before that door even opened again. As for the sneaking around, she either heard something or guessed about it. Kim, you've been played by a master!"

Both her eyes and her mouth were wide open as she realized just how right Ron was. Had her mother been right about their expression? Had she actually tricked Kim into confessing because of a motherly hunch? For the first time since she found him on the deserted beach she sat up and away from him, rubbing her temples, thankful at least it was too dark to see how much she was blushing.

"Am I going to be able to look her in the eye?" Ron asked, not wanting to be on the outs with two-thirds of the females along for the trip.

"Uh, yeah, mostly. She's pretty okay with the way things turned out, though I wouldn't put it past her to play you a little too."

"Oh wonderful. Now I've got two Possibles who know the details of my love life."

"Hey, it could be worse. It could have been Daddy who figured it out."

Ron propped his head up, looking up at the sky. "I wonder which black hole he'd send me to." He knew, actually, that it just wasn't possible to do that. There wasn't a starship on Earth that would ever travel that far. In fact, there probably wouldn't even be one built in his lifetime that could reach the closest star.

It suddenly occurred to him that he actually knew something about that. He could even name the nearest star.

"I wish you could be with me for all my classes again KP. I really think I'm smarter when you're around."

"I can't always be, Ronnie. I needed my Advanced Placement courses for my early admission. It's the only way I'm going to finish my particular degree in just four years."

"Why the rush? Most of the more complicated degrees are taking more anyway."

"Because I have this vision of the future. We graduate from college, then we buy us a nice little place and start doing our darnedest to produce little boys with red hair and big ears."

"Whoa, KP, college…kids."

"I've got it all planned out. You make it all official as soon as we're adults. That way when I go to college and all the pretty boys start macking on me, I just flash the rock at them and they go away."

"You really think…did you just propose to me?"

"No, I most certainly did not. I just told you that you're going to propose to me when the time is right, and it's not going to be easy, buster. You've got to do it in front of my parents…after you ask Dad's permission."

"You've really thought this out, haven't you?"

"Yes. I had some time hiking out here. It's harder to walk on sand than I thought."

"You have to stay near the surf, where it's damp."

She put a hand on his stomach, leaning back up against him again. "Now I don't know how we're going to do it, but we're getting you into college and if I can help it, we're going together."

"Kim, you don't have to do that just to be with me. You have such potential to be so great."

"Who said I was going to some lame-o community college. I've already been accepted for early admissions to Middleton College. With some real elbow grease we can get you in there too."

"I don't know, Kim. The only thing I'm really good at is cooking."

"Then that's great. The Denver campus of Johnson and Wales is starting a program there this fall. If there's any way for you to get into college, that's your best bet."

"You sure, KP? You get a little freaked when I go into 'Chef Ron' mode."

"So not the drama. That was my bad. I had no right to treat you like that back then. Now, let's not talk about the bad old days, shall we. Where was I?"

"Right here." Ron sat up and started placing small kisses down her neck. "Wait a sec. You said making out and more. I thought…"

She cut him off by kissing him again, her fingertips reaching barely into his shorts. "Ronnie, if you want to, all you have to do is say the word." Letting go of his waistband, she took his hand and placed it in the middle of her chest.

"Kim, I want to, but then again I don't. Does that make sense?" He looked at her, barely able to see the starlight reflected in her large eyes.

"It makes perfect sense to me. It's just fine. What I meant is that I still owe you a night together with me." She sat up and found her bag, pulling out the tube. The top was secured with a drawstring but once it was opened, the contents all but popped out.

"What in the world?" Ron said as the soft, puffy material spread out on the blanket.

"Lightweight, miniaturized sleeping bag. It's part of our mission gear, we just haven't had the chance to use it yet.

"Isn't it a little warm for a sleeping bag?" he said, helping her spread it out on the blanket.

"Probably, but since we're still on 'plan B' we can just lay down on top of it." She pushed him down on the soft, cool material, wrapping one leg over his again, rubbing her entire body against his as she slipped his shirt off, stuffing it in her bag for safe-keeping. "It may be comfortable inside, though. It's one of Wade's creations, for hot weather climates. The fabric is supposed to regulate body temperatures, though I don't know if it can handle two active bodies."

"Care to find out?" He said, finding the zipper. She responded by slipping inside it with him, slowly closing the flap.

It was a tight fit, but they were pressed so close together it didn't matter. Kim crossed her leg over him and his hands started roaming again, a couple of his fingers tracing the bottom cuffs of her shorts.

She threw her leg the rest of the way over him, straddling his waist, wrapping her arms around his head as she kissed him, still moving her body against his, pressing herself against him, making small sounds as he kneaded the small of her back.

They didn't know how long they made out like that, at least until Ron's watch chirped, announcing the top of the hour. He looked up over her shoulder, checking the time.

"Don't worry about it, baby." She said huskily.

"It's just ten, though maybe we do want to set an alarm. I don't want to be caught out here after daybreak."

"Oh no!" Kim sat up suddenly.

"What is it? The twins up on the dune with their night vision goggles?"

"No, I just remembered, I promised Nana the two of us would have breakfast with her. We can't stay out here all night after all. Dammit."

"Kim, it's okay. There's going to be more missions in our future, so I promise, the next time sleeping bags are involved, we're going to share one." He reached into her bag, taking out the Kimmunicator. He turned it on, but didn't hit the call button. The "KP" logo lit up the screen, casting just enough light to see by, making it possible to set his watch without trying to do so while holding the light button down.

"Okay, it's set for eleven. When it goes off, we'll head back to our rooms and get a good night's sleep in comfortable beds."

"Ron, I really wanted to share a night with you."

"KP, there's a time and a place and you gave your word. Besides, I can't get enough of your Nana's badical lemon squares. Besides, we're wasting the hour." He pulled her back down, kissing her, wishing there wasn't a thin layer of lycra separating their flesh.


	28. Part XXVIII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXVIII

* * *

**

"Give it to me straight, Mom. How bad is it?"

Anne knew Kim must have been extremely concerned if she was not only willing to be examined by her mother, but to actually ask for it. If something had been wrong with Ron, be it a splinter or a potentially major injury she would bodily drag him to medical care but when it came to herself, it was usually up to others to force her to take care of herself. Her concern took on a whole other dimension when, due to the scope of the problem, Kim was willing to be examined in the all-together, even by her mother.

"It's not…that bad, but you're going to be really uncomfortable for the next twenty-four hours Kimmie. I…am a little curious about what exactly you were wearing."

Kim might have blushed, buy you would have never known it. Her whole body, with the exception of the areas that had been covered by her bathing suit, was now a livid red. As sunburns went, it wasn't too terribly bad, except in its extent. What had piqued her mother's interest was the pattern of coverage. More specifically, the lack thereof. Kim had gotten burnt before, it was one of the drawbacks of being a redhead, but the burns had almost always been confined to her arms, legs and the small areas competitive style suits left uncovered around her neckline. Now her body looked like she was still wearing a skimpy string bikini. The contrast between her normal, untanned pale skin and the red made it look far worse than it really was.

"I was wearing a new bathing suit, the one Monique helped me pick out as Club Banana." She picked up the suit itself from a pile of dirty clothing in the floor. The entirety of the suit could be balled up in one of her small fists.

Anne just shook her head. "Kim, if your father had seen you in that kind of bikini…"

"I know, but it didn't look dirty or anything, it just kind of hinted at things. Mom, it's not like I was wearing a thong! Besides, I really don't have that much to cover up."

"…and that was barely covered as it was. Honey, have you ever considered you might be going overboard with this whole trying to impress Ron thing?"

"Why not, Mom. I love him and I like to show it."

"Kim, you've done more showing it to him in the last two months than you have in over twelve years. Dear, he fell in love with you without all this overtly sexy clothing, you don't have to do all this extra stuff. Be yourself with him. Yes, I think it's nice to dress up for him, but that bikini you wore the other day was absolutely beautiful on you, this one, well, I've know some beaches that wouldn't even allow them simply because they show too much skin. Think about your reputation honey. Save this sort of thing for private time with him when you get older. It's better in the long run. Think about it like this too, you apparently had to wear something over the top of that suit to get it past your father."

"I don't know, well, yes, you're probably right, but…Ron seems to appreciate it, especially since we got together right before summer. You're right about the other thing too. I did wear a crop top and shorts over it when we left to go swimming yesterday afternoon."

"This from the very same girl who turned her nose up at half the competition swimsuits we looked at because they all rode too high on your hips?"

"Mom, I'm also the same girl you had to force to wear a bra."

"Kim, are you telling me you did that when you were fifteen to attract boys? I always thought it was because you were self-conscious about your chest."

"That never really bothered me too much until I got to high school, then girls like Bonnie started lording it over us that they were so blessed that way. Honestly, though, I think the whole bra thing had more to do with hanging with Ron. He went through this whole phase where he was teasing me about training bras and snapping the straps."

"Ron snapped your straps? I would have never thought that of him."

"Oh, he only did it a couple times before I…convinced him to stop. Maybe you are right, maybe I liked the way he looked at me in my tank tops. I think he always knew when I wasn't wearing one." Kim gingerly stepped into her clothes after applying a thick layer of aloe gel.

"I guess if you have anyone to blame for a small chest it would be me." Her mother said. "Though when you get older and start having children, I think you'll appreciate having less chance to sag."

"Would you believe I actually asked Ron if I should consider augmentation when I turn eighteen."

"Oh, Kimmie, how could you even consider that?"

"It was just some conversation. I was a little worried I was leaving him…under whelmed."

"If I know Ron, and I think after all these years I do, I imagine he said something to the effect of loving you just the way you are."

"Almost verbatim."

"I'll let you in on a little secret. There are some men out there who like petite women. Besides you, who does Ron think looks good."

"Honestly, I always thought it was any girl who would pay him the least bit of attention, but really, I don't know."

"Oh, come on now. If there is anyone in the world who knows what he likes it's you."

"I…just don't like thinking about him with other girls."

"Kim, Ron is a normal teenaged boy…"

"Man." Kim corrected.

Anne let that pass, at least for the moment. It was, after all, a matter of perspective and she did think it was healthy for Kim to build his self respect that way. "He's normal. I know you like to think that you're the only woman he looks at, but that's just not going to happen. He's still entitled to look just as much as you are."

"Well, he did sort of date Zita Flores for a little bit, and she's built a lot like me. Oh, and he did think Shego was kind of hot the first time he saw a picture of her."

"See, sounds like he likes women who are a bit on the petite side."

"Shego's not exactly petite, it's just that outfit of hers isn't the most flattering thing in the world. I know, I wore one once."

"What about that Japanese girl who dragged him off to South America last spring?"

Kim's eyes narrowed dangerously. "That little…" the rest trailed off into an unintelligible growl. "She doesn't count. He wasn't even aware she was interested in him until she was gone."

"He wasn't aware, or he just didn't know how to make a move. Kim, this is the real world, he's going to like other girls. It's because he loves you that he's with you and he's faithful to you, but there are too many people out there that there would only be one he was actually interested in. You said it yourself he found Shego attractive, though I wouldn't for the life of me think he'd ever pursue someone like that."

"Oh, I got a little ticked at him over that, but it's not the same."

"Because she's not interested in him back. Yet that Japanese girl is and that threatens you."

Kim mumbled something else. Just thinking about Yori was actually making her angry. The girl was presumably thousands of miles away and the mere mention of her set her to jelling.

"Anyway, I hope you don't think about messing up your body. You're petite, that's the way you are and you've got a boyfriend who likes you that way."

"Oooooh, this is so not going to work." Kim moaned, shrugging back out of her bra.

"You're not going around without, Kim. There are issues other than just support for a young woman your age, especially when you're going to be around a boy you've all but admitted, er, excites you."

"Mother!"

"It's the facts of life, Kimmie. Here, how about your jog bras. No straps to chafe you."

"Thanks." She slipped a fresh one on, followed by a t-shirt.

"You know what the sun's done to you, don't you?" Her mother said, a slightly smug look on her face.

"I know, I've increased the chances of getting skin cancer later in life, blah, blah, blah."

"That's true, but you're also forgetting the fact you're a redhead."

"What are you talking…oh no, oh please no, not that!"

Anne held up a mirror for her daughter. There, right across the bridge of her nose, where the inflamed pink was not quite as bad were a cluster of very faint freckles.

"Nooooo Oooo." Kim moaned, sitting back on the edge of her bed.

"I think they look cute on you."

"Mom!" Kim whined, searching through her makeup bag for concealer. "I had to put up with kids calling me 'Freckles' back in grade school. I hate having these." She started applying the bottle to the bridge of her nose until she realized it wouldn't blend properly with her sunburn. Pouting, she wiped the whole thing off with a towelette.

There was a knock at the door. "Mrs. Dr. P? You in there?"

"Come on in, Ron." She said.

Kim's eyes lit up in shock. "No, Ron, I'm…not decent."

"Nonsense." Her mother said, letting him in.

Ron was clearly just as uncomfortable as Kim was. If anything, he had a fairer complexion than Kim did. He walked in with his arms held slightly away from his sides.

"Well." She said, examining his shoulders. How the boy was actually wearing his tank top, she didn't know. "Looks like the snuggle-fest has come to an official end."

"I thought sunblock was supposed to stop this sort of thing." He said, gingerly sitting down beside Kim.

"Not when you're out there for over three hours. What on Earth were the two of you thinking?"

Ron's burn was a little more severe than Kim's. Where she had spent most of the time sunbathing, getting in the water only occasionally, Ron spent a great deal of time playing in the water, riding a little boogie board he'd gotten in town. The worst of it was on his back and shoulders.

"Okay, Mister Stoppable, out of the shirt." Anne commanded.

Kim helped him get it back over his head. His back was an angry color of red that made both women wince. How he had gotten the shirt on in the first place, they had no idea.

"Ron, you're officially grounded today, doctor's orders. No more sun for you I'm afraid."

"I don't want to ever go back out in the sun again." He whimpered as she probed the worst of it.

"There's no sign of sun poisoning, but it's very close. Here." She handed Kim the bottle of aloe gel. "Put this on his back and shoulders. Looks like that's all the touching the two of you are going to be doing the rest of this trip." With that she left them alone, shaking her head slightly.

Kim poured a big glop of the green gel into her hands and started spreading it on him. "Wow, that's cold." He shivered while she spread it on, trying to be as gentle as possible.

"So much for our last day here." She said, pouring another handful. "I can't believe it got this bad overnight."

"I know. I was fine when I went to bed last night. Ow, take it easy there, KP."

"Sorry. Here, honey, lie down on your stomach."

He did, though he had some burns on his stomach as well. "How bad did you get it?"

"Not like your shoulders. Does that feel any better?"

"A little. Don't stop, just don't put too much pressure up there."

"Okay, Baby. Mom knows about my tiny little suit, though. I look like an old fashioned Coppertone ad."

"Ouch. I hate this, I wanted to finish out our last night here in style."

"If we're careful we still can have a little fun." She made her point by rubbing some gel into the small of his back. The burn wasn't nearly so bad there, so it was more of an excuse to touch him than anything else. She wiped her hands and picked up a folded piece of paper. "Where's Rufus?"

"He's still sleeping. It's a good thing he spent the day sleeping in your beach bag, sunscreen or no."

"He's okay?"

"Yeah, he's lucky I put that zinc oxide on him."

Kim giggled, remembering the sight of the little guy covered head to tail in the white sunblock. "I think for future reference, the beach isn't quite the best place for a Naked Mole Rat."

"No kidding. He was not exactly a happy camper when I took all that stuff off him."

"Better that than the way we are. Here, look at this."

Ron propped himself up slightly as Kim went to work on the back of his calves. "Hey, this sounds familiar."

"Yeah, I think they copied the same directions you used. Apparently that old gator farm has become something of a local legend now."

"You want to go? Think your Mom'll let me out of here in this condition?"

"Well, it's out of the sun, so I don't see why not. Just no slow dances."

"KP, I'd rather brave the pain than pass up a chance to dance with you."

"That's sweet, but I have a feeling there won't be too many slow dances at this kind of party." She sat up. "Come on, from the smell of things, I think breakfast must be about ready. Feel up to some swimming later?"

"I thought we couldn't go out in the sun today?"

"There's an indoor pool here. The cool water should feel good for both of us." She leaned in close, whispering to him "Besides, this time of year I think everyone else will be outdoors. We might even have the pool to ourselves."

"Sounds good, KP. Mind putting some more of that on my shoulders?"

"You sure you're just not using that as an excuse for me to put my hands all over you?" She giggled.

"Whenever I get the chance." He said.


	29. Part XXIX

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXIX**

**

* * *

**Unlike the randomly shaped pool outside, the indoor pool was a four lane Olympic sized pool meant for swimming laps instead of splash and play for children. Fortunately Kim had been right about the number of people using it. There was one person there, unwisely swimming alone but pulling laps. By the time they got their sandals and t-shirts off they were left with the pool to themselves. On their way there they had seen the main pool, with just about every lounge chair filled, dozens of children claiming the shallow end. So not the recipe for a soothing cool-down. 

There was also a hot tub nearby but considering they already looked like fresh boiled lobsters the thought of stepping into swirling hot water was the furthest thing from their minds. Now if it was filled with cool water and nobody else came along wanting to use the jets, it would be fantastic. Ron even went so far as to stick a toe in it, declaring it too much to handle by their sun broiled skin.

Kim was wearing a tank top/boy cut style bikini, not so much because it managed to cover all her tell-tale tan lines but because it didn't have any strings or narrow straps do dig into her inflamed flesh. Ron was wearing one of his ubiquitous pairs of almost knee length board shorts. He had been spared being crisped on his heiny, as Kim was. She was now finding it uncomfortable to even sit.

"Bet you've got some interesting tan lines now." He said as he climbed the ladder into the pool, not wanting to risk a belly-flop.

Rufus, on the other hand, had no such compunctions. With a squeak of "Banzai!" he landed belly first, soaking both teens before they could get completely into the cold water. He grinned at them sheepishly, slowly backstroking out of their reach.

"Oh, man, this does feel better." Ron said, floating on his back.

Old habits kicked in as Kim got in the water. She immediately kicked of, starting an in-the-water warm-up routine she had used when she was on the Middleton High School swim team her sophomore year. She regretted leaving it, but it just conflicted too much with other important activities. After spending three days being able to do almost nothing after Wade figured out a way to remove the Valkyrie 1000 shoes because her body had to drop out of hyper speed gradually, her mother literally sat her down and read her the riot act. She was as wrong taking on so many activities as Ron was taking on almost none. Given the choice of Cheer Squad or Swim Team her junior year she had taken the former, partly because it was her favorite of the two and partly because it meant keeping Bonnie from taking over in her absence.

Thinking about her rival made her increase her pace slightly, switching from the breast stoke to the American crawl. She had to force herself to back off. Her muscles were cold and out of tone. That frightened her a little. If they were called on a really serious mission they might be in trouble. All the time off they had taken to be together was really starting to tell on them. Late-nights out snuggling, sneaking kisses and getting dangerously close to taking a step that both now admitted was too far really had gone overboard.

She didn't get too down on herself. This was a new thing that both of them found they liked. Only it was too much of a good thing now. There needed to be some discipline. They needed to back off, partly to make their special time together even more, well, special, but mostly to allow them time to concentrate on things that were really important. There wasn't just their physical condition to worry about, there was school work. Kim maintained top caliber grades, but she had to work for every one of them. She knew some of Ron was starting to rub off on her, just as her drive to succeed was rubbing off on him. A middle ground was probably the healthiest thing, but only if that middle ground leaned heavily in her direction.

Just as she did so much of the time, she started making plans. As soon as they got back to Middleton, she was going to take a much firmer hand in Ron's health. He was going to eat better, exercise more, even start some serious training. If he could pick up as much as he did in one week at a super-secret Ninja school, imagine what he would be like with regular, structured training.

She wondered for a moment as she made the turn on her third lap if the Yamanuchi School would call him away again. It had been some time since he had gone there, but if his connection to the Lotus Blade and his Mystical Monkey Power were indeed true, then it was only a matter of time before all that entered her life.

Unfortunately that made her think of someone else and for the second time that very day, a name she had not even considered since officially pairing up with Ron. Unconsciously she picked up the pace once more, to the point she was almost at competition speed. She started backing down as unused muscles started painfully tightening up.

Ron looked at her making her way back to his end of the pool. He shook his head woefully and slowly paddled his way right into her path, knowing that trying to tap her shoulder or grabbing her as she went by would likely mean broken bones…for him.

Kim saw him in time, popping up with a little bit of anger flaring in her eyes. "Hey, that's a good way to get a busted nose there." To keep him from thinking she was too angry with him she splashed him.

"Kim, Kim, Kim…we can train all we want to when we get home, but this is vacation."

"Ron, if you say we're supposed to be marinating, so help me…"

"But that's just it, KP. You have to learn to chill. This is the time to rest up. We've got a bon-diggity party to go to tonight, so we've got to be ready for all the dancing."

"Ron, I was just thinking about something. Remember the last mission we were on?"

"Yeah, we kicked some bad guy biscuit and turned them over to that red haired guy on the Miami-Dade police force. You know, the one with the sunglasses who talked like he learned to speak at the Commander Kane school of delivery?"

"I'm not talking about that one, I man the last really serious mission, the one we went on before this trip? That one should have been a walk in the park."

"Hey, the first time we think Monkey Fist is a walk in the park we need to seriously look at ourselves. That dude has some serious monkey 'tude."

"What I'm saying, Ron, is we came home beat down like we lost. We're out of shape and it's getting worse. I think we're seriously starting to lose focus here."

"Like I've ever been able to focus." He kicked away from her, drifting toward the edge of the pool. Then a though occurred to him. He pulled himself up the side, sitting with his feet in the water as Kim swam back up to him.

"I think I see where you're going with this." He said, sullenly. "I guess all this has been too good to be true after all."

"Ron, it's not like we're going to change."

"That's just it, Kim. We have changed and now I see it. It's just like I thought it would be, us being together, I mean really together is going to ruin what we had. I guess it really was a mistake."

Kim almost shot out of the water, grabbing his lower arms where she knew he wasn't burnt as badly. "Ron, listen to me, do not even think for an instant that I'm talking about our relationship. I love you and that's not going to change. I love you as my best friend and as my boyfriend and I still want you to ask me something when we turn eighteen. Look at me…Ronnie…"

He did, the lost, hurt expression in his eyes ripping out her heart. "I am not talking about breaking up. I am not talking about any of this being a mistake. I would trade all of our world saving in an instant if I had to chose between that and you. All I'm saying is that if we're going to keep doing that _and_ keep being a couple, we're going to have to work harder than we ever have before to do that. That means fewer nights spent making out, fewer nights sitting in a Bueno Nacho booth for hours on end. It means more nights studying…"

"Studying hard?" a little of his grin came back as he raised one eyebrow.

She smiled and leaned over to kiss him, the quick peck lingering for a few seconds. "Only if the situation merits it." She put a hand on his leg, careful to stay on his upper leg where the sun hadn't wreaked its terrible wrath on him.

"Ron, Mom was right this morning when she reminded me that we've been going overboard with all this couple's stuff. Look at this trip. I think our parents thought this was going to be the very last big family vacation before we grow up and start going out on our own. Next summer we're very likely to go some place on our own as soon as we're both eighteen. In fact I plan on it. This trip, though, we've spent, let's see, one day apiece with our fams, half a day with Nana. The rest of the time it's been just like right here and now. Just the two of us. The ride down here, what did we do? Instead of spending the ride chatting with everyone, playing Mom and Dad's road games, we practically hid in the back of the van cuddling and making out when Jim and Tim weren't looking.

"Honey, I can count on one hand the number of times I've kissed somebody outside of my family before the prom. I broke that record the first hour afterwards and we've kissed so much now that if I had a nickel for every one, I'd beat out your Naco royalties."

"Are you saying kissing's a bad thing."

"When it gets in the way of everything else. I had no idea I like kissing this much until we started doing it. Ron, you are a spankin, badical kisser and I still want to know where you learned it, but we've gone overboard with it. I mean WAY overboard. You said yourself you thought we were on fire and in danger of burning out. You're right. I've gotten this idea in my head that I have to constantly prove that I love you by kissing and touching you, to the point I can't even think straight when we're apart. That's not right and it's not healthy.

"Ron, I couldn't save the world without you, but we can't be together every single minute of our lives."

"Are you saying we need to spend some time apart so we can see if we can do it?"

"Uh, no. I don't want to deliberately torture ourselves either. I'm just saying when the time comes, we're just going to have to buck up and do what we have to. Like, if by some reason you can't get into the same school next year. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"And true love would span the universe." Another voice said above them.

An elderly lady had walked in, waving her cane in front of her. In an instant Kim realized she was blind. She got up from beside Ron to speak to her. "Would you like some help, Ma'am?"

"Would you be so kind to show an old woman to the hot tub?" She said.

Kim held out her arm as she had been taught to, letting the woman take it on her own. She guided her to the tub at the far end of the pool building, telling her when to step down into the water. She told her were the controls were and set them to her comfort.

"You're so kind. You and you're young man share something special, don't you?"

"We sure do, but it took us long enough to figure it out."

"Oh, but you did, you did and that's what's important. Now, why don't you go back to him and I'll have be a nice soak. Just set the timer for fifteen minutes so I'm not in here too long."

Kim wandered back to Ron afterwards. "Listen, Honey. About all this stuff we've talked about. It's really important, but it can wait until school starts."

"Booyah." He said softly, getting to his feet slowly. He leaned over and kissed her gently, lingering as she had before. "Wow, suddenly I'm really tired." He said. "Maybe we are out of shape."

"That, and our bodies are using a whole lot of energy healing our skin. Come on, grab your towel. We'll go up to the room and have a little nap, then we'll find the rest of the Fam and try to join in with what they're doing. This is their last full day of vacation too.

Half an hour later James and Anne returned to the suite to pick up their picnic supplies. Jim, Tim, Gene and Jean were still down at the pool, staking out their claim on one of the tables down there.

As his wife gathered the supplies he noticed the door to Kim's room was closed. That struck him as a little odd, since he knew they left all of them open when they went down to the pool after breakfast. Quietly he made his way across the room. So far it had looked like his trust in Ron had been well founded, but images of what he had been like at sixteen and seventeen still entered his mind. Images of the two of them in bed, images he tried to push aside but just would not go away.

He could feel his heart pounding as he gripped the doorknob. The door swung silently open and he looked into the darkened room. The blinds had been drawn, cutting out all but a thin sliver of sunlight. There was plenty of light to see by, but the room was still darker than the rest of the suite.

The kids were in fact in bed together, though the sight of them put his mind at ease. They were side by side, their hands clasped in the middle. Kim was laying on her back, snoring softly, a precursor to her louder snoring as she slipped deeper into sleep. Ron was beside, her, but lying face down, his nose buried deep in the pillows. His back looked shiny and slick, a fresh coating of aloe gel glistening on the angry red of his sunburn.

A hand touched his shoulder. Anne gently pulled him out of the room. "I knew this was coming." She whispered to him. "Let them rest for a little while, then I'll come back and get them so we can all have lunch together."

James smiled at her, feeling warm in his heart that his good little girl had found such a wonderful boy to share her heart with.

This had turned out to be a great vacation this year.

* * *

Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney


	30. Part XXX

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXX**

**

* * *

**"So, Ron, what's the big plan?" Felix asked, taking a sip from his soda. 

"Felix, I got nuttin." He slumped down on the table, picking at his nachos. Nearby Rufus lay in an empty tray, casually licking the cheese glop of his tiny claws, giving Ron's tray the eyeball. The dinner crowd had long since dispersed, leaving the two boys almost alone in the Middleton Bueno nacho. The place hadn't changed much since re-opening. New graphics had been applied to the tables and the fake hanging plants that had been there since Drakken and Shego ripped the roof off had been replaced with real ones. It still looked about the same, save for a poster in the window featuring Ron wearing a sombrero and a fake mustache, holding a grande sized Naco.

The discussion had now been going on for a couple days, ever since Kim and Ron had come back from the big family vacation. The couple seemed to be closer than ever when they were together, but that didn't seem to be happening as often, leaving Ron deep in the dumps when he wasn't with her. That itself wasn't his major issue tonight, though. "You've got to do something, Stoppable. Ball's in your court this time, gotta step up to the plate."

"Felix, it's bad enough without you mixing sports metaphors, especially one's that cliché." He played with the straw in his drink, making a horrible squeaking sound with the top. Even the reappearance of the all-important bendy-straw couldn't break his funk.

"Look at it this way, she's going to be seventeen. It's not like it's the biggest birthday of her teens. Bet you got a free-ride at her sweet sixteen party."

"Yeah, but she was technically dating Monkey then. I was just 'the old friend,' even if Mankey had to be out of town for some art showing. Anyway, sweet-sixteen's more of a fam thing. This time it's the first birthday with us together. I just can't play it off that she can go to R rated movies now, not that she'd go to them anyway and not that I can yet either."

"Ron-man, she's a week older than you. That's a statistical non-issue."

"I guess. I'm just running out of ideas."

"More like you're running out of cash."

"No kidding. I think I've got about a hundred dollars to my name. The money started rolling in but so far Dad's only letting me have fifty bucks a week. At this rate I'd starve if free meals wasn't part of the deal with BN…almost seventeen and I'm still relying on an allowance." He finished, muttering.

"Maybe all it takes is just some simple one-on-one time. You ever think of that?"

"Been there, done that Felix. Kim's gotten this idea in her head we were going overboard with all that 'one-on-one' stuff."

"Now where would she get that idea?" his friend said, smiling at him semi-wickedly. "It's not like you've been going at it so much I had to pry you apart with my chair's cybernetics."

"Hey, we weren't that bad!"

"Ron, there was a pool going on when the two of you were going to be caught going all the way. The two of you were so attached at the face it's a wonder you could even breath. If kissing really did cause cooties the two of you would have created an epidemic."

"Well, that's all over." Ron grumped. "She even got this notion reading some stuff online that we should only have real dates once a week."

"Reading online? That doesn't sound like her."

"Oh, it's something she just got into. Some guy named Jason Something-or-other writes these romantic little stories and in one the big-time couple decided they would hang out on weeknights and date only on Friday or Saturday. So she comes to me and says it's a 'ferociously' good idea."

"Well, if you don't like it, just tell her."

"Felix, haven't you noticed who wears the pants in this relationship?"

Leaning over, Felix made a show of checking exactly what his friend had on at the moment. "Ron-man, I think you're wearing pants too."

"Oh, I tried to tell her that. She just said she was better at keeping pants on than me."

"I know what you mean, but, man, that sounds so wrong."

"What…oh, yeah it does, doesn't it?"

"You can level with me, Ron. You know how to get those pants off her, don't you?"

"Yeah I…whoa! Felix, we're not like that!"

His friend was laughing so hard he was in real danger of falling out of his chair. "Oh, man, I'm just playing you. The look on your face."

"Yeah, well, we were almost like that, but not yet."

"I hear ya, man. If that came from anyone else I'd have to call BS on it, but I hear ya."

They were interrupted by a familiar voice, "Hey Stoppable, how's it hangin?" A large, blonde haired man walked up to them, holding a heavily laden tray of tex-mex junk food.

"Hi Brick. We're doin' 'kay." Ron answered. "Thought you'd be at Carolina by now getting ready for training."

"Oh, I've already been there a week. Just flew back this morning to see the family before the real work gets started. Sucks being second string and everything."

"Gotta start somewhere Brick. I bet it's nothing like High School."

"You can say that again. It's worse than when I was a freshman."

"Uh Brick," Felix said, "you are a freshman."

"Oh, yeah, right. So I guess it's supposed to be that way huh?"

Ron and Felix looked at each other. Still the same old Brick.

Without really being asked, Brick sat down in the booth across from Ron and started in on his food. "Either of you seen Bonnie?"

Felix shrugged. Ron did as well. "Haven't seen her since school let out. Seemed like she high-tailed it out of town somewhere. You two still on the outs?"

"Yeah. I pretty much broke it off after the prom. That was pretty mean what she did to you. You're still hangin with Possible, right?"

"Yeah, Kim and me are pretty tight." At least he hoped so, wishing it was Kim sitting at the table with him and not his MBF and a former high-school quarterback.

"So, what're you going to do for her Birthday?"

"You know when Kim's birthday is?" He seemed a little taken aback by that notion. Even though Brick had bamboozled Kim into a near-date once, he had never been terribly close to her, especially considering Brick was dating Bonnie most of the time anyway.

"Oh yeah. Last year Bonnie got real tweaked about not being invited to her sweet-sixteen party so she took it out on me for a whole week. I don't know the exact date."

"Whoa, waitaminute!" Ron said. "What do you mean she wasn't invited? I remember Kim going on an on about how her mother made her invite the whole squad, Bonnie included and then she had the nerve to snub the invite."

"Huh. Maybe she was just playing it up for drama. I don't know, haven't seen her since graduation." Brick leaned in close, whispering to the younger man. "So, what was the deal with those…you know?"

"I know what?" Ron said, looking confused. Felix just raised an eyebrow.

"Last spring, you know, what Mankey, Nelson and me caught you holding that caused her to storm out of the school? I mean, I know the two of you had been tight for a while, but I didn't see you getting in her pants that quick."

Ron turned almost as red as his old jersey (which had now been permanently snatched by Kim to sleep in.) He had almost completely forgotten the incident with the panties. "Uh, somebody kinda stuffed those in Kim's bag and I accidentally snagged them on the Kimmunicator. That's when you guys found me with them. Kim was so embarrassed she just took off and all."

"Too bad. I bet she's a really sweet ride."

Ron's hand shot out so fast neither of the other two could see it. Brick suddenly yelped in pain as Ron's hand gripped his wrist so hard the bones crackled against each other.

"Brick, I am willing to let that go this once because that's just the way you are, but if I ever hear you talking about my Kim that way again the Tar heels are going to have to do without their second string quarterback for the whole season, got it?"

"Sure man, it's cool, I'm sorry. Meant to say Kim's a really sweet girl and all, just came out wrong."

"That's what I thought." Ron said, calming slightly, suddenly aware that he just threatened a man easily twice his size…

…with the confidence he would be able to back that threat up.

The rest of his food forgotten, Brick quickly excused himself and, looking actually a bit embarrassed, left as fast as he could get out the door and into his car.

"Wow, Stoppable, didn't know you had that in you."

"I didn't either." He was starting to shake slightly, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why. It could have been the fact he just said that to a man who could quite easily pound him into the floor or it could have been that he somehow felt that wouldn't happen and either notion scared him slightly.

"So, when exactly is Kim's birthday?" Felix asked, eager to get the subject back where it had been before.

"Friday."

"Okay, we've got a whole four days to think of something. Buck up there, camper. It's Friday, so that's an official date night."

"I guess you're right. Just wish I had more claude."

"Ron-man, Possible knows the score. Just give it your all, that's all that counts."

"I just wish I had a better idea what to do. I've known her almost thirteen years now and I don't have the foggiest notion what I'm going to buy her."

"What do you give the girl who has everything?" Felix asked, leaning over the table toward his friend, smiling conspiratorially.

* * *

"Okay, girlfriend…TTS." Monique said, sitting across the table from Kim at the Middleton Mall food court. 

"TTS?" Kim asked, leaning on her fists, staring off into space.

"Time To Spill. What's the deal with you and Ron. Ever since you got back from that vacation of yours you've been moping around. Girl, you didn't even get amped over the fall stuff we just got in at Club Banana. You two not doing so hot?"

"It's not that, Monique. We're doing pretty hot. It's just, I don't know, maybe I'm just worried where all this is going."

"Going? Okay, where is the real Kim. Two weeks ago you were ready to march down the aisle with him carrying his twin children. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts, cause if you are I know somebody who would really like a shot at that freckled hotness."

"Mon, I think I said some things to him that I'm regretting now."

"Oh, so now you think you've been moving too fast."

"Well, that's what I thought when I talked to him about it, now I'm not so sure."

"Wait, I'm confused. The two of you go from love-sick fools to old-marrieds almost overnight, then you finally think it's too fast, now you don't?"

"That sounds about right. I told him we were getting in over our heads with all the PDAs and such, so I kind of put the brakes on it."

"Oooooh, now I get it."

"You do?"

"Yep. Okay, here goes. You suddenly find out that all this couple's stuff you do with him is a good thing, so you jump in with both feet. Then you get a notion in your head that something's wrong with that, so you jump right back out. Now you're sitting here finding your needs aren't being met."

"You sound almost like I'm an addict trying to go cold turkey."

"Well, if the shoe fits…"

"I'm not, it's just…we were…too much…we almost…"

Monique's eyebrow shot up. "You almost what?"

Kim blushed, the red glow highlighting her still visible freckles. "Nothing."

Her friend fixed her with a glare that said _I'm not letting you up from this table until you spill!_ "Did Dude-boy try anything you weren't ready for?"

"No, it was nothing like that. Ron would never do that to me. It was something we both decided on, then we decided not to." With a sigh, she quickly gave Monique an abridged version of all the romance down in Florida.

"Wow…I mean wow!"

"I still can't believe I was naked in a bed with him like that and all we did was hold hands." Kim said, thinking back to that moment, remembering how scared she actually was.

"Actually, I'm liking that make-out session in the sleeping bag the best. I don't know if I could keep my pants on in a situation like that. Did he know what happened to you?"

"I think it was pretty obvious. The look on his face was priceless."

"Damn, girl. I'm going to have to remember that when I get a real boyfriend." She looked upwards, thinking wistfully again about finding a guy like Ron. "So, what's he doing for your birthday?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping maybe it'll be a simple date. Mom and Dad aren't holding the fam thing until Saturday night, I guess they figure Ron'll want me to himself on my actual birthday."

"And what about his birthday next week? A camping trip?"

"Monique! I'm treating him to a nice quiet dinner alone."

"You're not going to try and cook, are you?"

"No, it's going to be take-out, but his parents are going out of town for the weekend so we'll have some quality time alone."

"And you'll break out the sleeping bag?"

"You are so fixated on that. Maybe I'll stuff the two of you into one so it'll shut you up about it."

"Works for me."

Kim stuck her tongue out at her.

"So, what are you going to get him?"

That stopped Kim cold. "Wow, thirteen years together and suddenly I don't have a single idea."

"Well, I do, and I think it will be good for the both of you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, simple. You go find him after we leave and rock his world, within reason. If all that making out was so good for you, don't stop until you get enough. I can't stand all this moping around. Let things go back the way you were and when it's time you'll slow down, but when it comes naturally, it'll feel right."

"I hope so." Kim looked off into space again, this time wishing she had Ron's arms wrapped around her.

She still had no idea what to get him though.

* * *

Kim Possible and related characters © Disney


	31. Part XXXI

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXXI**

* * *

Somehow the bumpy, drafty ride in an antiquated sea-plane seemed just like old times. Sure, it would take them six times longer to get home than it would if Global Justice had seen fit to send them by a hyper-sonic capable hover-jet, but they were operating outside of the auspices of that august body. Instead, this was a personal response to a hit directly on Kim's website. It seemed the reprieve following Drakken's last failure was really coming to an end. Other villains were starting to step up to the plate, though so far none had risen to the level of the imprisoned megalomaniac.

This time they had been called to an island in the Caribbean called _Isla Verde_. Naturally, the island was mostly jungle, hence the name. The lack of beaches and fairly rough terrain had kept it from being developed as a tourist destination, making it a perfect spot for those not wanting too much attention by the authorities. The new player was a former Wall Street trader named Nathanial Syder. Over a year ago he had been stripped of his license by the Securities and Exchange Commission, vowing at the time he would have his revenge. Well, it looked like he was going to have it after all unless somebody could infiltrate his hidden lair and foil his scheme. Somehow he managed to hack into one of the great intercontinental communications cables and was threatening to unleash a virus that would cripple the internet, virtually bringing the financial markets (and a whole lot more) to a screeching halt.

It was a pretty straight forward take-down. They tracked him to an abandoned smuggler's warehouse hidden in some man-made caves. Ron almost gave away their position when he got a sudden case of the giggles. When Kim glared at him, he simply pointed to what was written on the stack of crates they were hiding behind. "N. Syder Trading Co." Was stenciled on each one.

"Ron, quit playing around." Kim said, more interested in the layout of the building than what was printed on boxes.

"Kim, don't you get it? N. Syder? Insider trading. He got busted for insider trading." Ron said, trying to stifle his laughter.

"Oy." Kim said, rolling her eyes.

Of course, that was when his goons attacked.

"Why is it these freaks always have to have so many henchmen just to hack into a communications cable? You'd think by now they'd have figured out that brainless muscle is so last season." Kim said as she vaulted over one, doing a handspring on his shoulders, executing a flying kick-split that caught two more in the head, sending them down.

"Careful, KP. I haven't seen the Henchco label on these guys, better call them goons so we don't get another nasty letter from Jack Hench's lawyers." Ron rolled between the thug's legs, grabbing him by the ankles and pulling his legs out from under him. "Booyah!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet.

"Oh, like Hench is going to sue the two of us for using his name. Puh-leese!"

"Hey." Ron said, trying to roundhouse his nearest opponent, his fist bouncing off harmlessly. "He did it to GJ, and they ended up having to pay!" he ran screaming as the thug tried to grab him. The bulky man ended up losing his footing, crashing headfirst into one of the crates Ron had pointed to earlier, knocking him out cold.

In the end, they managed to make short work of the operation. The only real surprise was the way Syder was going to cripple the internet. The file Wade sent during the mission briefing didn't mention him having any major computer skills. Instead he 'outsourced' that particular aspect of his operation.

"I should have known, considering the deal Syder got busted on involved Smarty Mart." Kim said as they climbed back onto the sea plane as the authorities.

"Yeah. He must have found out about him though the company's internal mail or something. Who would have thought we were going to hear from Francis Lehrman again? Hey, maybe if we left him with 'Frugal Lucre' long enough he would have talked him out of all the over-prices goons." Ron said as he gripped the rail, ready to pull himself up after Kim. There was a sudden ripping sound, followed by "Aw, man."

Kim turned and smiled, expecting to see him climbing in with his pants ripped in two. She hadn't seen him as much the last week and was quite happy at the chance to see him in his boxers. Instead he was still on the ground, only his head showing .

"What's the matter, Ron? Come on, it's going to take long enough to get home."

"Uh, KP, can you get me my spare pair of pants?"

"Get up here, it's not like I've never seen you in your underpants. In fact I think I've seen them more than your outside pants."

"Very funny, Kim, just hand me some pants."

She frowned. He was serious. "Ron, don't tell me you went commando today. Of all the people in this world who shouldn't…"

"No, it's not that, just…please!" He pleaded with her.

"Okay." She opened his pack, pulling out his tan 'street clothes' cargo pants. "Better make these last, you've already used up your extra pair of mission pants." She leaned out the door to hand them to him. He looked almost desperate trying to hold the remains of his ruined pants together.  
"Ronnie, sooner or later I'm going to see more of you, I guaranteed that."

He responded with a scowl, swirling his finger indicating she should turn around.

_That is so weird_ she thought. _If he didn't forget to wear his underpants, why in the world was he so worried I was going to see him?_ _Heck, I actually want him to model what I got him for his birthday next week!_

Somehow, Ron managed to switch right back into sulk mode once they were in the air. He'd been that way for the whole mission, only putting on his 'game face' for the fight itself. She assumed it had to do with Rufus. The poor little guy had come down with a mild ear infection. How Ron knew that, she had no clue. His ears were almost totally invisible anyway. The upshot was the Naked Mole Rat was going to be just fine, but air travel was totally out of the question, meaning he had to sit this one out.

It made sense that Ron would be missing him on the ride up, but he should have been getting amped to get home. "Ron, honey, what's wrong?"

He managed a weak smile. "Nothing, just feeling, how would they say it on that show? Moopy, yeah, that's it."

"Ron? You moopy? Say it isn't so. You're too full of Ron-shine to be moopy."

"I'm human, KP."

"Maybe it's your time of the month." She clucked at him, earning her a slight scowl. "If anything, I'm the one who should be ticked off, not you."

"Why's that? I thought that was next week anyway."

"No, but maybe you need to look up the definition of PMS. Anyway, I should be peeved because, Ron, it's Friday."

"Yeah, well, that's part of it, I guess. I was looking forward to our date, now it's going to be early Saturday before we actually get back."

Kim crossed her arms and glared at him. "Ron, it's Friday. Friday July twenty-ninth? Ring any bells?"

"Princess Di's wedding anniversary?" he said, forcing a grin until her glare turned darker. "Okay, that's another reason I was bummed. I had a little surprise planned for you for the official moment you turned seventeen."

"You were actually going to wait until nine seventeen to even say 'happy birthday' to me? I don't know if that's sweet or just silly. You had me thinking all day you just plain forgot."

"Me forget the most important person in my life's birthday? Well, it's because of what I had planned, but that's not going to work now." He got up and sat down beside her, taking her hands and kissing her warmly. "Happy birthday, KP."

"That's more like it. I've missed you this week."

"I've tried to be a good boy for you. I've saved up for our date. Too bad it won't happen now."

"There's tomorrow night."

"Not really. Your folks have your big family 'birthday' dinner and all planned."

Kim pulled him close and kissed him again, glancing toward the cockpit. The pilot had his attention totally on the skies, not the teenagers smacking lips in the back. "There's always afterwards. I still don't have a curfew until school starts."

"Funny, every time we stay out after midnight your Dad still gives me the hairy eyeball. And since your mother knows what we'd been up to…"

"Ron, it's because she knows that she trusts us all that much more now…what do you mean being a good boy? I haven't seen you a single night this week."

"I thought you only wanted to go out on Friday and Saturday now?"

"When school starts! Ron, Monday I can appreciate you hanging with Felix so I could shop with Monique, but I didn't see you except during the day all the rest of this week." She kissed him again, letting her hands stray teasingly up his legs. This time the kiss was a lot more than warm. "I'm starting to think this whole date-night thing was ferociously stupid. I've missed this." She kissed his neck, using her fingers to pull the collar down slightly.

She got up, a little unsteady on the pitching deck of the plane. The pilot noticed her and favored her with a smile. They had already exchanged the usual pleasantries with him on the way out. He knew they were a couple even before they mentioned it as they made small talk earlier. It seemed the Weekly Sphere had come into the possession of some fuzzy shots of the two making out in several public places, including a night-vision shot of them on the boardwalk in Fort Summerdell. He nodded to her, understanding that she wanted a little bit of privacy. She closed the door and went back to Ron, straddling his legs and crushing herself against him like she had that night on the beach.

Some thirty minutes later he came up for air, his palms partially inside her cargos, gripping her hips. "KP, I think we're going down."

"RON!" She shrieked. "I am so not doing that!" _yet_ she added silently

Ron may not have been prone to embarrass easily, but he still turned red once he realized what he'd said. "No, I mean the plane. I think we're landing."

Kim gingerly got up off his lap, making her way back to the door. "Ellis? I thought we had a few hours to go?"

"Sorry, Miss Possible. We've got a fuel line problem. I'm going to land early so we can fix it. We shouldn't be too long. I've already radioed ahead and there's an air-strip on Ocracoke Island where I can take care of it before it becomes dangerous."

"No big. At least if we had to land we're in a flying boat." He gave her a thumbs up as she made her way back to her boyfriend.

"What's up?" Ron asked, buckling himself in.

"Fuel problems. We're landing on an island on the coast of North Carolina."

"North Carolina?" he repeated as she fixed her own harness.

"Yeah. I know it's not the most direct way back to Middleton but we had to swing up the east coast to pick up some cargo. It's the nearest air strip to us right now."

If the plane was having trouble, they never knew. Ellis managed to put it down at the strip with out so much as an extra bounce. She did manage to get a look at the gauges, though. There wasn't much gas left in the old canoe with wings.

The sun was already setting over Pamlico Sound when they finally caught a lift to the village on the southern tip of the island. The pilot was able to correct the problem quickly, but the strip was out of aviation gas until the tanker could get there the next morning, having missed the last ferry that afternoon. That left them stuck for the night, in high summer at a relatively isolated beach resort.

Fortunately there was at least one place that didn't have the 'no vacancy' shingle up in their window. It was an older looking place, a two-story motel sitting in a grove of live-oaks, just across the road from the round man-made harbor that defined the south end of the village.

An older couple were sitting in the office as they walked in, one behind the small counter, the other sitting on a wicker love-seat facing the open double doors, knitting in the pleasant breeze coming off Silver Lake.

"Well, what can we do for you folks…" His pipe nearly fell out of his mouth as he got a good look at the couple coming in. They were dirty, dusty, Kim's hair was a wreck from all the wind in the plane and both their black mission shirts looked like they were ready for the rag bin but he recognized them immediately.

"We need a room for the night. A double would be fine."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Possible." He said, adopting a weird sad-sack expression. "I'm afraid I can't rent you a room tonight."

"I thought the vacancy sign was out." She said, perplexed.

"Well, see, there's a law here that we can only rent the rooms to a legal adult…you wouldn't happen to be eighteen yet, would you?"

"Oh. I'm afraid I just turned seventeen." She looked crestfallen. Ron just looked numb.

"There's also the issue of money." The man said.

"It might be tight, but I should have enough left for a room." Kim said. "But if we can't rent a room in the first place…"

"Oh, that's not it. See, your money is no good here. No good at all."

"I don't follow."

In answer he pointed to a cluttered mantle on the far side of the room. Sitting in the middle was a familiar looking red toy. It looked like somebody had whacked the Lil Diablo robot in the head with an axe, but it was clearly one of Drakken's creations.

"I can't rent you a room, but since I own this place nothing says I can't give you a room to stay in for the night. Like I said, your money's no good here." He smiled warmly at the two of them, turning around the sign in the window behind them. "You're in luck, we have one room left. It's a single, but if those rags are to be believed, I don't think the two of you would mind." He looked at Ron, giving him a slight wink.

The motel looked old on the outside, but that was due to the constant battering of the ocean. The rooms had smooth, clean wood floors with dark, wood paneled walls. Anywhere else the 'knotty pine' décor would have looked trite, but here on the Outer Banks of North Carolina it seemed fitting.

It was getting quite dark, but the night-life of the fishing village cum resort was just getting started. Directly across the street, built halfway out over the harbor itself was a quaint little open-air restaurant. Apparently in the time it took for them to freshen up and change back into street clothes word had already spread and before they could even sit down a huge platter of steamed shrimp was placed in front of them. They were seated at the back edge of the deck on a bench built into the railing and the whole place seemed relaxing and friendly.

It was so relaxing that Kim ended up putting her feet up on Ron's lap as he casually peeled a shrimp and held it up for her to eat. He noticed his girlfriend was smiling.

"Ron, if I didn't know better, I'd somehow think you planned this."

"Oh?"

"Ending up on a romantic little island, having dinner in a place like this for my birthday."

"I swear, KP. It's too late to make it now, so there's no harm in telling you. I had us reservations back at the place we had our first date. Dexter Ash was singing there tonight."

"Dexter Ash?"

"Yeah, remember, the 'smart one' of the Oh Boyz?"

"Oh. Yeah. Man, how quick we forget. He's doing the solo thing?"

"Yeah, it's part of the deal. The guys in the boy bands go solo, end up playing gigs in little places then either start making movies or fade away forever."

"I didn't know they broke up."

"I don't think they did, but you know it's coming."

"Yeah."

Ron rubbed her ankles with one hand and popped a shrimp in his own mouth with the other. _Good thing I don't eat Kosher. I like shrimp and bacon too much._ He looked at his watch and swung her legs back down to the floor. Scooting closer to her he wrapped his hands around her waist and gave her a quick kiss.

"Happy birthday, KP." He whispered.

"Thanks. Now feed me, mister Perfect." She said, adding a Bebe-like inflection to the last.

Later, leaving a basket of shrimp shells and half a dozen empty soda cups behind, they walked back across the street, hand-in-hand.

"I still want to know what the deal was with your pants this afternoon." She said.

"Easier to show you than to tell you." He said with a grin that would do Shego proud.

Once in the room, he sat down on the bed, fiddling with the TV remote while she went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. It only took her a moment, coming back out wearing his old jersey. On her it actually hung longer than her little black dress, though she had a pair of gym shorts under it.

"Okay, I'm waiting."

"Lie down."

"O…kay." She looked at him, a little worried. She sat back, propping herself up on her elbows.

With that, Ron unbuckled his cargos and let them drop to the floor.

Kim's hands shot to her mouth. She didn't know whether to scream or roll off the bed laughing. The sight was almost too much…

…instead of long boxers, Ron was wearing briefs and not just ugly old 'tidy-whities' but slightly skimpy 'man-kinis,' complete with printed flames and, right across the front, the words 'Happy Birthday!' He held his arms out as if to say 'ta-da!'

"Ron…if that's your way of saying I have to unwrap my present…" she said between laughs.

"No, KP." He said, pulling his pants back up. "That's just a joke. Felix and I found these at that creepy gift store at the mall." He got serious then, unsnapping the pocket where Rufus normally rode. "Actually, that part I was planning for you to see if I lost my pants during the mission. Kinda stupid, really, if you'd been distracted…"

"Uh, yeah. It's still funny."

"Well, when I did rip my pants I didn't want you to see me transferring this."

He held up a small red velvet box. Kim immediately stopped laughing, sitting up straight in the bed. "Ron, that's not what I think it is, is it."

"Depends." He said. He sat down beside her on the bed. "It isn't the box that I have to get on one knee for, but I think you'll like it." He opened it. Inside was a pair of emerald earrings and a gold chain with a tiny heart on the end. The heart had an extra clasp under it, sitting empty for the moment.

"They're beautiful." She said. "How on Earth did you afford this?"

"You know all those figures I had in my room?"

"The robots and stuff?"

"Well, Felix and I got to talking. I have to grow up some time and I haven't played with them in a couple years, so I took them to a collector. Turned out I had some stuff that was pretty valuable."

"Ron, you loved those things…I can't…"

"Kim, I love you a whole lot more than some old toys. I would far rather give you this than see them up there collecting dust." He took the earrings out and helped her put them on, then put the necklace on."

"What's the clasp for?"

"It's for when we get our class rings. You can either put it on the chain or you can attach it to the locket."

"Ron, I don't know what to say." She put a hand on his knee, looking him straight in the eyes."

"I think you do." He said, smiling back at her.

"I love you Ron."

"I love you too, KP. Happy Birthday."


	32. Part XXXII

**_It Finally Happened_: Part XXXII**

* * *

Kim had her arms wrapped around Ron's waist, holding on for dear life. She had ridden on the backs of motorcycles before, but never before had the driver been so bent on seeing just what his new ride could do. 

Well, the motorcycle was new to Ron at least. In reality it was actually older than he was by several years. It was one of the Japanese bikes that was supposed to look a little bit like a Harley-Davidson, right down to the V-shaped engine. The tank was battered and scratched and the seat had been repaired in a couple places with electrical tape but it ran. It not only ran, it purred like a kitten. The dilapidated exterior hid the fact the old bike had been kept in prime mechanical condition.

Instead of waiting for the plane to be refueled, they got a ride from the motel owner to Raleigh/Durham International Airport, taking a jet home in a fraction of the time it would take the old plane to cross the greater part of the continent. They got home just in time for dinner at the Possibles.

They noticed the bike sitting on its kickstand when Monique dropped them off, figuring there was another guest at the party. They had forgotten about it as dinner got under way. The Stoppables had been invited as well, turning the whole affair into a joint celebration of both their birthdays, considering Ron's parents were going to be away for his birthday.

It really wasn't so much of a party as a big family dinner, at least until three cakes were brought out, two adorned with seventeen candles apiece. Both teens looked askance at the third, smaller cake until Kim's mother explained it was actually made of cheese, covered in a cream cheese spread instead of icing.

It didn't take Rufus long to figure out it was all for him. It was a far cry from Ron's birthday the year before when his little friend had gotten into the main cake before everyone else, barely missing being sliced in two as he tunneled through the sweet spongy mass.

"I suppose you kids are headed out yourselves now?" Gene Stoppable asked as he and his wife got ready to leave later that evening.

"Oh, we were just going to pop in some movies and hang out." Kim said, draping her arms around Ron.

"Okay, I'm ready." Kim's father said, holding up his car keys.

"Ready for what?" Kim asked.

"Oh, I'm driving Ron's parents home." He said, heading out the door.

"How did you get here? Did you walk?" Ron asked. It really wasn't far, but he just couldn't imagine his mother walking any further than the end of the driveway.

"Oh, didn't you see it when you came in? Gene asked.

"Saw what?" They both said.

"The bike. Oh, heaven's sakes, Jean, we forgot to tell Ron about his birthday present."

"Sweetie, your father and I decided that you're getting a little big to ride little tiny scooter around."

"So we found you something a little bigger." His father finished for him.

To say both of them were flabbergasted would have been an extreme understatement. It didn't take them long to test ride the motorcycle, though that was a limited until Ron could get a motorcycle endorsement on his license (Kim actually already had one) and get his insurance updated.

Over the course of the next week, Ron and his new love were inseparable. Fortunately for him, his old one was always along for the ride.

* * *

Word had come from Wade mid-week that the verdict was in at the Drakken/Shego trial. It was amazing the whole shebang had lasted through most of the summer, even though the federal government put it on an extreme fast-track compared to other cases. It really seemed to be a foregone conclusion all along, but the lawyers managed to drag it out examining even the most minute detail brought as evidence. The prosecutors were more than willing to go along, hoping to keep appeals to a minimum. The end result, however, was a series of hearings and an actual trial lasting from early June until the first week of August. 

It was strange watching the verdict being read on TV. With the exception of surprisingly brief testimony on their part, neither of them cared much to follow the trial itself. In fact, it was a episode they wanted to put behind them for good, or at least as long as the two could be kept incarcerated. Part of what made it look so strange was seeing the two of them sitting at the table, the only thing out of place being their unusual skin color. It was especially peculiar seeing Shego in a demure skirt and jacket, her hair pulled up into a tight bun above her neck. Drakken was in a dark business suit which didn't look wholly different from his usual blue lab coat until he stood.

It went without saying that both were found guilty on all charges.

* * *

"Okay, your 'rents are our of town, we have your house all to ourselves, I don't have a curfew until school starts and we're up here why?" Kim asked as Ron pulled his bike to a stop. 

"I just thought this would be romantic." He said, killing the engine. "After all, this is my birthday." He pulled his helmet off, hanging it by its strap on the handlebar.

Kim pulled hers off, letting her long red hair spill out. "Before you even ask, I most certainly do not have any funky underwear on, buster." She whispered in his ear as he hung the helmet on the other grip for her.

"Gonna prove that to me?" He said, drumming his fingers on her bare knee. He looked back over his shoulders at her. She was wearing her pale yellow peasant shirt and a white, willowy skirt, the latter jammed under her legs so it wouldn't blow open.

It was fully dark out, but the moon was fast approaching full, so he could see her clearly. He could also see a couple other cars parked near the bluff at the end of Logging Camp Road, but given the reputation the place had, he was almost certain no eyes would be on them.

"If my big mean biker boyfriend would take me home, maybe I'd put a show on for him." She mock pouted, climbing off the back of the bike. She glanced at the other cars in the distance and looked back at him. He leaned on the handlebars, leering at her in the moonlight. She grinned back at him, holding out one leg, pulling her skirt seductively halfway up her thigh. "That's all you're getting out here. Remember those pictures that showed up in the _Sphere_?"

"Actually, I thought those were kind of badical. Now the whole world knows I scored _the_ Kim Possible."

"If I didn't love you I would so smack you right now." She said, wrapping her arms around his head and pulling him in for a kiss. Without breaking contact she swung her leg back over the bike, facing Ron in the seat.

"Wow, can't wait for the pictures of this to show up." He said between kisses.

"Why, cause it'll look like you're getting some on your bike? Come on, I want to go back to your home." She kissed him on the neck. "I've got some proving to do."

"Oh, proving how much you love me? You do that all the time."

"Nice try." She kissed him again. "No, I'm going to prove to you I'm not wearing and nasty gift-shop underwear that says 'Happy Birthday' or anything."

"Oh…Booyah." He whispered as her hands reached into his shirt, running up his back. "That doesn't mean you're not wearing any, does it?"

"Let's go home and find out. One hint, this time it's not gonna be stuffed in my backpack. Plus, I know you've always wanted to do something."

"Oh?"

She leaned back, brushing her fingers on the laces of her collar. "I know you've always wanted to untie these." She watched his eyes, the brown orbs never once leaving her upper chest. She knew the laces were just for show, but she had watched his eyes for a long time, knowing just what he wanted to do with them.

Something clicked in his head. "Wait, you mean you got some more of those…"

"Let's go find out." She nibbled his earlobe.

He couldn't start the bike fast enough. Ron knew they still wouldn't go too far, but the thought of seeing her in a tiny little lacy thing was just the present he wanted to unwrap for his birthday.

* * *

Kim leaned on her elbows, content to watch as her boyfriend, her nearly life-long best friend, the man who she had given her heart, the man who had pledged his undying love for her in return, proceeded to do things to himself that had the potential to cut his life short. She knew better than to try keeping Ron from eating a tray full of Nacos. 

Kim and Ron were in their favorite booth at Bueno Nacho, enjoying the Americanized "Mexican" food. Well, at least Ron was. How any human could put that much away, help from his naked mole rat, Rufus, notwithstanding, and not be a big as one side of the house was beyond her. Ron was a self-professed gourmet, capable of not only enjoying fine foods but preparing them as well. When school started in a couple weeks he was going to focus on that very thing, hoping to get into a culinary arts program at Middleton College.

How the same person could gorge himself on cheap pseudo food like this was beyond her.

She slurped the last of her diet pop as her Kimmunicator went off. "Hey Wade! What's the sitch?"

"Kim, there's been and ATM heist not two blocks away from you, and you're not going to believe who's in on it." His image disappeared, replaced by the security footage he had just recorded.

Kim's eyes narrowed as she watched. "We're on it." She said, nodding to her boyfriend.

Ron understood and just gave a big thumbs-up, his mouth too full for speech. They both dashed into the restrooms and emerged moments later in their mission gear. Kim ran out the door at a dead run, knowing their target was so close by.

Ron was not so fortunate. Everyone in the fast-food joint was staring at him. In moments he realized why. His pants had snagged on the bathroom door and there they remained. He was about to run down the street in silk paisley boxers. He didn't know whether to die of embarrassment or slap his forehead since Kim was too far ahead to see he'd worn his birthday present from her!

* * *

A/N And so ends the prequel to the Trinity Sitch Epic. The story continues in **_They Say Everyone Has a Twin_** which has undergone a revision. 

The story of Kim and Ron and their growing relationship continues after that in **_Our Place in the Food Chain_** – now showing!

I want to thank all my readers, especially those kind enough to leave reviews: _Momike, JPmod, TexasDad, Zaratan, Skyagent, Jak4, TouchOfViolet, MrDrP, CajunBear73, liverpoolangel, Mattb3671, johnnie18, Darkcloud1, SHADOW ANGUS, TheBladesMan, Ultimate Naco Topping, Charizardag, Yankee Bard, AndyCosta, AtomicFire, Shiriko, calamite, spectre666, Incrediraider8, dataweaver._

See ya'll soon!

* * *

Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney 


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